Uno cheat-sheet

A one-page reference for Uno. Players: 2–10. Goal: be the first to get rid of all your cards.

Setup

1. Deal 7 cards to each player.
2. Put the rest face-down as the draw pile.
3. Flip the top card over to start the discard pile. (If it’s a Wild, reshuffle and flip again.)

On your turn

Play one card that matches the top of the discard pile by color, number, or symbol — or play a Wild.

• Can’t play anything? Draw one card from the pile. If it can be played, you may play it right away; if not, your turn ends.
• Down to one card? You must call “UNO!” out loud. Get caught not saying it (before the next player goes) and you draw 2.

The action cards

• Skip — next player loses their turn.
• Reverse — turn order flips. (With 2 players, it works like a Skip.)
• Draw Two (+2) — next player draws 2 and is skipped.
• Wild — choose the color that continues play.
• Wild Draw Four (+4) — choose the color; next player draws 4 and is skipped.

The rules people get wrong

Official vs. house rules

• No “stacking.” Officially you cannot answer a +2 or +4 by stacking your own +2/+4 to pass it along — that’s a popular house rule, not the real rule.
• You can win on an action card. If your last card is a +2 or +4, you still go out — the next player just draws those cards.
• Wild Draw Four has a condition. Officially you may only play a +4 when you have no card matching the current color. The next player can challenge it; if you broke the rule, you draw the cards instead.
• Drawing when you could’ve played: you don’t have to play a card you’re able to — but if you choose to draw instead, you can’t then play that turn (house rules vary here).

Keeping score (optional)

Play to 500 points over several rounds. When someone goes out, they score the value of everyone else’s leftover cards: number cards = face value, action cards = 20, Wilds = 50.