Uno (; from Italian and Spanish for 'one') (stylized as UNO) is an American shedding-type card game that is played with a specially printed deck. The game's general principles put it into the Crazy Eights family of card games. The game was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins in Reading, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. It has been a Mattel brand since 1992. When his family and friends began to play more and more, he spent $8,000 to have 5,000 copies of the game made. He sold it from his barbershop at first, and local businesses began to sell it as well. Robins later sold the rights to UNO to a group of friends headed by Robert Tezak, a funeral parlor owner in Joliet, Illinois, for $50,000 plus royalties of 10 cents per game. Tezak formed International Games, Inc., to market UNO, with offices behind his funeral parlor. The games were produced by Lewis Saltzman of Saltzman Printers in Maywood, Illinois. In 1992, International Games became part of the Mattel family of companies.
Video Uno (card game)
Official rules
The aim of the game is to be the first player to score 500 points, achieved (usually over several rounds of play) by a player discarding all of their cards and earning points corresponding to the value of the remaining cards still held by the other players. Action cards (Skip, Draw Two and Reverse) are worth 20 Points while Wild and Wild Draw Four cards are worth 50 Points.
The deck consists of 108 cards, of which there are 25 of each color (red, green, blue, and yellow), each color having two of each rank except zero. The ranks in each color are zero to nine, "Skip", "Draw Two", and "Reverse" (the last three being "action cards"). In addition, the deck contains four each of "Wild" and "Wild Draw Four" cards.
To start a hand, seven cards are dealt to each player, with the top card of the deck flipped over and set aside to begin the discard pile. The player to the dealer's left plays first, unless the first card on the discard pile is an action or Wild card (see below). On a player's turn, they must do one of the following:
- play a card matching the discard in color, number, or symbol
- play a Wild card, or a playable Wild Draw Four card (see restriction below)
- draw the top card of the deck
Play proceeds clockwise around the table.
Action and Wild cards have the following effects:
- A player who draws from the deck must either play or keep that card, and may play no other card from their hand on that turn.
- A player may play a Wild card at any time, even if that player has other playable cards.
- A player may play a Wild Draw Four card only if that player has no cards matching the current color. The player may have cards of a different color matching the current number or symbol or a Wild card and still play the Wild Draw Four card. A player who plays a Wild Draw Four may be challenged by the next player in sequence (see Penalties) to prove that their hand meets this condition.
- If the entire deck is used during play, the top discard is set aside and the rest of the pile is shuffled to create a new deck. Play then proceeds normally.
- It is illegal to trade cards of any sort with another player.
A player who plays their next-to-last-card must call "Uno" as a warning to the other players.
The first player to get rid of their last card ("going out") wins the hand and scores points for the cards held by the other players. Number cards count their face value, all action cards count 20, and Wild and Wild Draw Four cards count 50. If a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four card is played to go out, the next player in sequence must draw the appropriate number of cards before the score is tallied.
The first player to score 500 points wins the game.
Penalties
- If a player does not call "Uno" after laying down their next-to-last card and is caught before the next player in sequence takes a turn (i.e., plays a card from their hand, draws from the deck, or touches the discard pile), they must draw two cards. If the player is not caught in time (subject to interpretation), or remembers to call "Uno" before being caught, they suffer no penalty. If a player falsely calls "Uno" while having multiple cards in their hand, they must draw two cards.
- If a player plays a Wild Draw Four card, the following player can challenge its use. The player who used the Wild Draw Four must privately show their hand to the challenging player, in order to demonstrate that they had no matching colored cards. If the challenge is successful, the challenged player draws four cards instead; if it is wrong, the challenger must draw six cards; the four cards they were already required to draw plus two more cards.
Two-player game
In a two-player game, the Reverse card acts like a Skip card; when played, the other player misses a turn.
House rules
The following house rules are suggested in the Uno rulebook, to alter the game:
- Progressive Uno: If a draw card is played, and the following player has the same card, they can play that card and "stack" the penalty, which adds to the current penalty and passes it to the following player.
- Seven-O: When a certain card is played, the player is able to trade hands with another player or with all players. For example, the person who played the 7 card is able to switch all of their cards with another player; the player who played the 0 card is able to make every player exchange all their cards to the next player.
- Jump-In: If a player has exactly the same card (both number and color) as the top card of the discard pile, they may play it immediately, even if it is not their turn. The game then continues as if that player had just taken their turn.
Maps Uno (card game)
Strategies
A strategy at Uno may be offensive (aiming to go out), or defensive (aiming to minimize the value of one's hand, in the event that another player goes out, thus getting those points). Part of the skill of playing Uno is knowing when to adopt an offensive or defensive strategy.
An offensive strategy would be holding on to Wild and Wild Draw Four cards, because they can be played near the end of the hand in order to go out (when it's harder to play a matching card). However, a defensive strategy would advise getting rid of such cards early, because they have a high point value.
A defensive strategy would advise playing a high card in order to reduce the point value of the hand. However, an offensive strategy would suggest playing a 0 when the player wants to continue on the current color, because it is less likely to be matched by another 0 of a different color (there is only one 0 of each color, but two of each 1-9).
A player holding only one card is required to call out "Uno" or risk being penalized if caught. A player who calls "Uno" risks being the target of concerted action by the other players, who may be able to use action cards to prevent that player from going out. Depending on the level and seriousness of play, some players may deliberately avoid saying "Uno", in the hope of avoiding detection and then going out on the next turn. For this reason, it is useful to conceal how many cards are in your hand, and to keep track of how many cards every other player holds.
Little has been published on the optimal strategy for the game of Uno. Simulations of games may shed some light on the matter. Attempts to reduce point count in a player's hands can be "read" by other players if too transparent. This information can be exploited by other players, and it follows that a mixed strategy may be more appropriate.
Some work has been done into the psychology of Uno as it relates to individual and group behavior. Players may exhibit physical tells, in which a subtle, often repeated, cue inadvertently reveals their state of mind during a game. Alternatively, they may change their playing style, switching from an aggressive card-shedding strategy to a more subdued one, or vice versa.
Card and deck styles
The new Uno action cards bear symbols which denote their action, except for the Wild cards which still bear the word "Wild." Before the design change, such cards in English versions of the game had letters only. Especially old English versions can be denoted by the absence of the white rim that surrounds the edge of most Uno cards. Other versions use symbols and images in both old and new designs, especially ones with Wild cards that do not bear the word "Wild". The Xbox 360 version of the game uses the new English style of the cards. There are also language-free versions of the newer styles that do not bear the word "Wild" but have the same styling. There is a new version called "Uno Mod" where the cards have symbols instead of letters or numbers. This version also comes in a red and white case. It is one of several "Mod" games by Mattel, the others being Othello (game) Mod, Apples to Apples Mod, Phase 10 Mod, and Skip-Bo Mod.
Theme packs
There are many different themes and versions of Uno. These theme games may come with slightly different directions and special cards.
Note: * indicates HIT Entertainment character, by which Mattel acquired HIT in 2012.
Themed My First Uno games
Card sets only have 36 cards designed for children at least 3 years of age. These sets come in several variants, based on titles for children. My First Uno versions:
Themed video games
Uno versions available on the Xbox 360:
Themed sports teams
Several sports teams each have 112-card sets, featuring players from those teams. The special cards in each deck vary depending on the card set itself. The following teams have confirmed Uno sets.
Special Uno games
Video games
Variations
Many variations from standard gameplay exist, such as Elimination Uno, Speed Uno, French Uno, Pirate Uno, and Pakistani Uno. A variation of Uno named Dos that includes math and the player having to say "Dos!" when they have 2 cards left. This spinoff of Uno was introduced in 2018.
Similar games
Uno is a member of the shedding family of card games. The shedding family of card games consists of games where the objective is to get rid of all your cards while preventing the other players from getting rid of their cards.
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Current official rules, from Mattel
- Official Mattel Uno site
- Uno Rules at UnoRulesonline.com
- Uno Variations at UnoVariations.com
- Uno variants at pagat.com
- Uno News at Wonkavator
- Uno at BoardGameGeek
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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