Tabletop Tuesday - UNO

Welcome to another edition of Tabletop Tuesday - Your weekly exploration into games of dice, cards, luck and more of the Tabletop world.

This week's game...the game of Draw Two and Skip You that is the classic UNO.

Players: 2-10
Time: 15-30 minutes
Genre: Casual Card / Family Game



This simplistic card game has grown to massive popularity and success since its humble beginnings back in 1971.  And its appeal is easy to understand, as the game is incredibly easy to pick up, play, and have a good time.  Similar to that of the card game principles of Crazy Eights, each player starts with a hand of cards to which they will need to match the color or number in the middle to discard their hand down to nada.  If the player is unable to play a card, they then have to draw from the deck.  UNO incorporates a few special action cards that add some fun novelty, such as Skip cards that pass over a player's turn, or Wild cards that change the suit to any color.  And then there's the infamous rule of UNO, when a player gets down to one card, they must say "UNO" before their opponents do, else they draw two cards and victory remain elusive.  It may seem like a silly, unimportant rule, but it does add an interesting wrinkle in gameplay dynamics as players will start to hide their cards and try to keep mental notes of other's remaining cards.

The various action and Wild cards of UNO.

Now the game can be enjoyed in short spurts as is, but for those who are looking for longer play sessions and a little more strategy, there is the often forgotten rule of scoring.  After each game of UNO, the player who goes out earns points based off the remaining players' cards.  Numbered cards are worth the indicated points, action cards are worth 20 points, and Wild cards are worth 50 points.  In this way, players then have to determine when to best play offensively or defensively.  An offensive player will save their Wild cards to go out easier, while a defensive player may opt to rid their Wilds earlier so as not to potentially reward other players more points.  The key to success is being able to read your opponents and act accordingly.

Due to the popularity of UNO, there are countless various themes and spin-offs to be enjoyed as well.  But even the base game of UNO can be enjoyed in many various ways as there are a mass amount of house rules that can be applied, a few of such being:

• Progressive UNO - Players can stack Draw Two's and Wild Draw Four's to avoid taking the penalty, to which the next player will receive the stacked penalties, less they too can stack another Draw Two or Wild Draw Four (depending what is being stacked).
• Seven-O - Sevens trade hands between two players, and Zeroes rotate hands between all players.
• Jump-In - If another player has the exact same card that is played, they can jump in and take control of the game, even if it wasn't their turn next.

These variations can shake things up considerably and offer more unpredictable fun.  No matter your version or play style though, don't overlook this dependable classic.  I recommend this game for those who enjoy accessibility and a little bit of mischief.

If you have any questions about UNO or have any particular favorite house rules not mentioned above, let me know in the comments.  Otherwise, stay tuned for more classics and other games in future installments of Tabletop Tuesday.  And happy gaming!