UNO is the game most likely to end in an argument at a family table. Nearly all of those arguments come down to the same four house rules, so we settle them below.
This is the full rule set: what's in the deck, what each action card does, official scoring, and the answers to the questions people look up mid-game.
What's in a UNO deck
A standard UNO deck has 108 cards:
| Card type | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Numbered 0–9 | 76 | One "0" and two each of 1–9, in four colors |
| Skip | 8 | Two per color |
| Reverse | 8 | Two per color |
| Draw Two | 8 | Two per color |
| Wild | 4 | No color |
| Wild Draw Four | 4 | No color |
Players: 2 to 10. Deal 7 cards each. The rest of the deck becomes the face-down draw pile, and one card is turned face-up to start the discard pile.
How to play
Play moves clockwise until a Reverse changes it. On your turn you play one card that matches the top of the discard pile by color, number, or symbol. If you can't play, draw one card. If that card is playable you may play it right away, otherwise your turn ends.
When you're down to one card, you have to call "UNO!" If somebody catches you before your next turn starts, you draw two penalty cards.
First player to empty their hand wins the round.
Every action card, explained
Skip. The next player loses their turn. In a two-player game that means you effectively go again.
Reverse. Play direction flips. With two players, it works the same as a Skip.
Draw Two (+2). The next player draws two cards and loses their turn.
Wild. You pick the color that has to be played next. You can play it on any turn.
Wild Draw Four (+4). You pick the next color, and the next player draws four cards and loses their turn.
The official Wild Draw Four restriction
Under the official rules you may only play a Wild Draw Four if you hold no card of the current color. If another player challenges you and you did break the rule, you draw four instead. If the challenge is wrong, the challenger draws six.
This one surprises people, because almost every family plays it as "any time you feel like it." Fine as a house rule, just not the official one.
The four house rules that start fights
1. Can you stack Draw Twos? Officially, no. If someone plays a +2 on you, you draw two and lose your turn. You cannot add your own +2 to pass it along. Stacking is still the most popular house rule in the world. Decide before you deal, not after.
2. Can you stack a +4 on a +2? Officially, no, same reasoning as above. Most versions of the stacking house rule allow +2 on +2 but stop at +4 on +2.
3. Can you play a card on your turn after drawing? Yes, if you drew because you had nothing playable and the card you drew can be played. You may not draw voluntarily and then play.
4. Can you call UNO on someone who already played their second-to-last card? You can call it any time before that player's next turn begins. After that, they're safe.
Scoring (playing to 500)
For a multi-round game:
- Number cards: face value
- Skip, Reverse, Draw Two: 20 points each
- Wild, Wild Draw Four: 50 points each
When a player goes out, everyone else adds up what's left in their hand and those points go to the player who went out. First to 500 points wins.
The quicker alternative is a round limit, usually 5 or 10 rounds, with the player holding the most round wins taking it. It's faster and it avoids the runaway-leader problem where one person is mathematically out of reach by round six.
Why UNO eats so much time
A four-player UNO game runs 8 to 12 rounds. That's 8 to 12 full shuffles of a 108-card deck, and hand-shuffling 108 coated cards never feels finished. The deck is thick, the finish is slippery, and you can hear the difference between a properly mixed pile and a lazy one.
If you play UNO regularly, you already know the complaint: more time shuffling than playing.
An automatic card shuffler takes the whole 108-card deck in one pass and deals every hand in seconds. No bridge shuffle, no cards sliding off the table, no six-year-old "helping." For bigger family nights with two decks and up to 12 players, the Dealtron MAX6 covers UNO, Phase 10, Texas Hold'em and Blackjack on the same machine.
Both fit inside a hard-shell carry case, which matters if your game night moves between houses.
If Phase 10 is on your rotation too, the same shuffling problem applies to a 108-card deck there as well. We wrote up the full Phase 10 rules separately.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you deal in UNO? Seven per player, for any number of players from 2 to 10.
What happens if the draw pile runs out? Shuffle the discard pile to make a new draw pile, keeping the top card face-up as the new discard.
Can you end the game on an action card? Under official rules, yes. Plenty of house rules require your last card to be a number card. Settle it before dealing.
Can you play two cards of the same number at once? Not in standard UNO. That rule belongs to Uno Flip and some regional variants.
Does a Wild card count as a match for the color currently in play? A Wild played by the previous player sets the color, and you have to match it. A Wild in your hand can be played at any time.
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