How to Play Uno
The matching card game the whole world argues about — shed your cards first, and say it before your last one hits the pile.
Rules as printed in the current standard edition · Last verified 2026-10-16
⚡ Quick Start — playing in 2 minutes
- Deal 7 cards to each player. Flip the top card of the draw pile to start the discard pile.
- On your turn, play a card matching the top card by colour, number, or symbol — or play a Wild.
- No match? Draw one card. If it plays, you may play it; otherwise your turn ends.
- Action cards: Skip jumps the next player, Reverse flips direction, Draw Two makes the next player draw 2 and lose their turn.
- Down to one card? Shout “Uno!” — forget, and you draw 2 if you're caught.
- First player out of cards wins the hand. Score points for the cards left in everyone else's hands; first to 500 wins the game.
What You Need
A standard Uno deck: 108 cards in four colours (red, yellow, green, blue) — number cards 0 to 9, plus Skip, Reverse, and Draw Two action cards in each colour, and the black Wild and Wild Draw Four cards.
Setup
Shuffle, deal 7 cards each, and place the rest face down as the draw pile. Turn the top card over beside it to start the discard pile. If it’s an action card, the first player follows what it says; if it’s a Wild Draw Four, shuffle it back in and flip again.
How to Play, Turn by Turn
Play moves clockwise. On your turn you may play one card that matches the card on top of the discard pile by colour, number, or symbol. Wild cards may be played on anything, and the player who plays one names the colour that continues play.
If you have no playable card (or choose not to play), draw one card from the draw pile. If that card can be played, you may play it immediately. Otherwise, your turn passes.
Action cards: Skip — the next player loses their turn. Reverse — direction of play flips (in a two player game it works as a Skip). Draw Two — the next player draws 2 cards and loses their turn. Wild Draw Four — the next player draws 4 and loses their turn, and you name the colour — but see the challenge rule in Settle the Argument, because this card has a legal condition on it.
When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile (keeping the top card) to form a new one.
Scoring
The hand ends when one player plays their last card. That player scores points for every card left in the other players’ hands:
| Card left in hand | Points |
|---|---|
| Number cards | Face value |
| Skip, Reverse, Draw Two | 20 each |
| Wild, Wild Draw Four | 50 each |
Hands continue until one player reaches 500 points and wins the game. Short on time? One hand, winner take all, is how most tables actually play — and that’s fine too.
Settle the Argument
Can you stack a Draw Two on a Draw Two (or a Draw Four on a Draw Four) to pass the pain along?
NO.Not in the official rules — Mattel has said so plainly and repeatedly. If a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four lands on you, you draw the cards and your turn is over. Stacking is a house rule (see below), and it's a fun one — but it is not Uno law.
Can you challenge a Wild Draw Four?
YES — and you should.A Wild Draw Four may legally be played only when the player has no card matching the colour in play. If you think they were bluffing, challenge: if guilty, they draw the 4 instead of you. If innocent, you draw 6 and lose your turn.
Do you have to say “Uno” exactly when you play your second-to-last card?
YES.Announce it as you play the card that leaves you with one. If another player catches you before the next player plays, you draw 2 penalty cards.
House RulesNOT OFFICIAL
Beloved, common, and not in the official rules. Play them if your table loves them — just know they're yours:
- Stacking Draw Two and Draw Four cards (the famous one — expect totals to snowball and feelings to follow).
- Playing a 7 lets you swap hands with another player, and a 0 forces everyone to pass their hand along (from a popular spin-off — great fun, not in the base rules).
- No-bluffing tables: Wild Draw Four playable any time. Faster, meaner, and entirely your table's choice.