I’m guessing you’ve heard of UNO. But do you know it?
If you haven’t heard of UNO, it’s a classic card game that since 1992 has been owned by Mattel. Every Australian household has a deck of UNO cards because if they didn’t they wouldn’t have any friends and so would die sooner because they were less happy and thus by natural selection, only UNO card holding households continue their lives.
Why would I even write a post about UNO? To prove I’m not just lucky. I play with tactics that make it more likely I win. Sure, luck is involved, but if you play your cards right, you can maximise your odds. Without further ado, I bring you the UNO guide PRO, with 5 quick and easy payments of 9.95/week you can pay 49.75 for something in 5 weeks. Lucky for you, this guide is absolutely free! That’s right, absolutely free!
The rules
- Cannot pickup and put down. Anyone who plays pick up-put down needs to double check they have the mental acuity to understand that you can’t play a card when it’s not your turn
- Can stack +2s on +2s and +4s on +4s. e.g. If someone draw 2’s you, you can play your draw 2 to make the next player draw 4 and so on. This just makes the game fun.
- Can finish on any card. I don’t even know why I’m specifying this rule. But some people don’t like it when you’re able to parry their draw 4 to win the game.
- No scoring. There is no punishment for having high cards at the end. You win, the rest of the players can play on for 2nd etc.
- 3 card penalty (not including card played) for illegal moves (even if accidental)
- The usual 2 card penalty if you’re caught on one card without saying UNO
Strategy (2 players)
Reverses/skips: They are the same card in the two player form. You want to hold them as long as possible so that you can chain them in the end. A chain will allow you to zoom past and finish the game before the other player can play their +2s or +4s. If you can’t play a card other than your skip or reverse only to force yourself to pickup, just pickup; DO NOT play the skip/reverse and then pickup. You give a chain opportunity to the other player (by leaving an open skip/reverse) and you look like an idiot.
Strategy (2+ players)
The strategies around these cards are the same for the 2 card game, aside from the skips and reverses.
Reverses: The only real way to play these strategically is if you catch a glimpse of someone else’s hand. Don’t go out of your way to see it, that’s cheating. If they happen to slip up, make sure you capitalise on that. If it looks like you’re getting near the end, try to get the direction of the draw 4 going away from you (obviously).
Skips: Great for when the person next to you has one card to finish. You can do the fakey — where you pretend to just put a numbered card down as normal of the same colour to see if the next player is ready to put theirs down. If you’re not able to change the colour yourself, skip them, giving the game more time to change the colour.
Wilds: 2nd best card in the game to draw 4s I would argue. This is based on the fact they can be placed on any card. This also makes it the 2nd best finishing card. No need to worry about anyone changing the colour if you hold this to the end. Last 2 cards, if you can’t play your number, play your wild onto the colour you hold. This sounds pretty obvious but I have successfully pulled off the dummy colour strategy where you pick a colour that’s not your final card’s colour, knowing someone else has a wild. Then the other wild gets played and hopefully changes it to your colour. No matter the situation, the odds are in favour of you picking your colour. In saying that, sometimes it’s worth asserting your dominance by playing a dummy wild and winning the game. This has to be weighed against the loss of dignity that occurs when you don’t pull it off.
Draw 2s (+2s): Defence first. If you start the chain you increase the chances of being at the end of it. My general rule is only play a +2 as an attacking move if you have another one. Most of the time you want to carry your +2s to the end if you can as you will be a target of +2s on or around UNO. If you have the option of playing a +2 or a +4 to a player who is on UNO, play the +2. Unless you know they don’t have +4 (they’ve all been played except yours). There are 2 +2s of each colour, keep that in mind when wondering whether you could be at the tail end of a chain.
Draw 4s (+4s): Defence first. You know there are only 4 draw 4s in a deck. If you have more than 4 people in the group, you can rest assured you won’t end up with the end of a chain that you started. This card should always be your priority to hold to the end. You will be a target of a draw 4 if you get to UNO, a deflected +4 on UNO for the win is a great feeling, and if the game plays on for 2nd, 3rd etc. you’ve just ruined someone’s game. An even better feeling.
Numbers
The most under strategised part of this game is the numbers. The above is mere chaff compared to what you are about learn here. You probably already had a decent idea of what to do with the “special” cards. The numbers are the most abundant cards in the game yet, so little attention is paid to them. Most of the time the difference between an L and a W is how the numbers are played. Enough hype. Let’s get into the how.
Same number same colour: You can play this any way you like. Just realise it’s a valuable pairing. You can play a blue 8 and it can come back to you on another coloured 8 and you can start again. You can also force 2 rounds of picking up this way.
Same number different colour: Keep your number pairs as the last cards in that colour. So, if blue is the colour for a few rounds and you have a blue 8 and a red 8, you play the blue 8 last from the blues. That way if everyone else is out of blues, you can take charge and play your red 8.
To change or not to change? If there is a blue 8 on the deck and you can play your red 8 or you can play a blue 5, what do you do? Most people would change because colour changes occur less and so they do it for the specialness of the move. So irrational. What you should do really depends on how the game has unfolded before getting to this dilemma. If you have a lot of blues, you probably want to keep it blue. If there is someone on or near UNO who had to pick up on red just earlier, play the red 8 to force the game to a stand still. Sometimes you must take hits. That’s okay, the longer the game goes, the more likely you are to win if you play the numbers game.
0s: There’s only one of each colour. If you can only play a number to someone on UNO, and you have the choice, play a 0. That is unless you’ve been counting the cards as you go and you know all but your 3 has been played.
6s on 9s: One of my favourites. This must be timed well. It’s a great move when the other players are engaging in conversation or some other distracting activity. If you play this game there is nothing more embarrassing than letting someone slip it past you, so ensure you become the 6 on 9 nazi.
9s on 6s: This one is slightly different. No it’s not. Why did you even believe me? This is just a sentence to make this paragraph longer than necessary, I wonder if it will work to convince someone reading the first sentence of this paragraph that playing a 9 on a 6 is any different to playing a 6 on a 9?
Other:
If you play with the same people a lot, you will learn their strategies. Personally, I mix up my purely probabilistic play with some (seemingly) random moves to throw the opposition off. I cannot reveal such moves. I’ve revealed too much already.
Afternote:
Moves like the fakey and 6 on 9 are not unsportsmanlike, at least not in UNO. If you’re not concentrating you deserve to be taken advantage of. It makes games go faster too. That said, if you’re caught, expect to be punished, and punish others that try to cheat too.
