I have said it before and I will say it again, some of the most enjoyable family games are the games that are simplest – and you can’t really get simpler than a deck of cards! There are lots of card games, but for this review we were playing a cult favourite, a classic game that never loses its appeal or fun (it is over 50 years old, it has been around since 1971). This game is UNO, the classic card game of matching colours and numbers.
UNO is a card game for 2-10 players, age 7+ that is super easy to learn, pick up and play but impossible to put down! It is a card-shedding game where players take it turns to match a card in their hand with the current card shown on top of the deck, either by colour or number. And the special action cards introduce game-changing actions to alter the play to help you defeat your opponents. Fast fun for family and friends!
In the pack:
- 112 UNO Cards – 25 of each colour (red, green, blue, and yellow), plus wild cards
- Instructions with Scoring Rules
Playing UNO is very simple, very addictive and lots of fun. The object of the game is to be the first player to get rid of your cards in each round to score points. The first player to reach 500 points is the winner!
Before play starts, each player draws a card from the deck and the player with the highest number is the dealer, with the player to the left of them becoming the player who starts first. The cards are placed back into the deck and the cards are shuffled. The dealer then deals each player 7 cards. The remaining cards are placed face down on the table to become the DRAW pile. Turn over the top card from the DRAW pile and start a new pile, the DISCARD pile. Setup is now complete, and play can begin.
Playing UNO is easy. The starting player (to the left of the dealer) looks at the card face up in the DISCARD pile and must match a card from their hand to it. For example, if the card is a RED with a 7 on it (Red 7) the player can either lay down any RED card or any colour 7 from their hand. If that player can’t make a match, they must take a card from the DRAW pile. If they can now make a match they can do so. If not, play continues to the next player. Play continues until a player plays their next to last card, leaving them with one card, and they MUST shout UNO (if you don’t shout before the next player takes their turn then you must pick up two new cards).
A simple game to play. But there are twists as the deck also contains special action cards to deliver game-changing moments and perform functions that can help you turn the game in another direction to help you beat your opponents. The special action cards include Skips, Reverses, Draw Twos, colour-changing Wild cards, Draw Four Wild cards and even customised cards that you can write your own rule on. These cards will see direction or play reversed, players losing a turn, players having to pick up more cards and swapping cards (players can swap their all their cards with another player). These cards inject a bit more fun into the game and can change the outcome.
To win, a player must score 500 points. That may seem a lot but is very easily achieved. The game is played in rounds, with the winner of each round being the player that gets rid of all their cards. The winner of the round then gets all the points by adding up the scores of all the other players remaining cards. Number cards are face value, but if the other players are holding wild cards, these are worth between 20 and 50 points each (a list of scoring values are in the instructions).
Overall, I love UNO. It is simple to learn, fast to play, can be played anywhere and is lots of fun, especially with the wild cards changing the game and adding in a bit of strategic play. It is an excellent game for kids, adults and families to play together, perfect for friends and family game nights, keeping the kids entertained on rainy days or during the holidays and even makes a perfect travel game as it is compact and can be played anywhere (you can even purchase a UNO carry bag if you want something more durable on your travels).
Gameplay is excellent, and I love that some cards have blank spaces on them so that you can add in your rules just to spice up the game even more (write on in pencil and it can easily be erased and reused for different rules).
A simple and very addictive card shedding game of matching colours and numbers that is fun for everybody from 7 to 107.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £9.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
DISCLOSURE: All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.
