Everything you need to run a round of UNO tonight — setup, gameplay, every action card, calling “UNO!”, and how the points work. Clear, complete, and checked against the official rulebook.
A standard UNO deck has four colours — red, yellow, green and blue — plus black wild cards. Each colour contains:
On top of the 100 colour cards come 4 Wild cards and 4 Wild Draw Four cards, bringing the total to 108. (Decks sold since 2018 add a Wild Shuffle Hands card and three blank “write your own rule” wilds for 112 — the modern extras, all optional.)
Card matching in one sentence
On your turn you play a card that matches the top of the discard pile by colour, number or symbol — or you play a wild card.
| Card type | Per colour | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 0Number 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 1-9Numbers 1–9 | 2 each | 72 |
| ⊘Skip | 2 | 8 |
| ⇄Reverse | 2 | 8 |
| +2Draw Two | 2 | 8 |
| Wild | — | 4 |
| +4Wild Draw Four | — | 4 |
Be the first player to get rid of every card in your hand. The moment you play your last card, the round ends and you score points for all the cards still held by your opponents.
The full game is played over several rounds — the first player to reach 500 points wins. (Playing a single round as a quick game works perfectly well too; whoever goes out first wins.) The maths lives on the scoring page.
Play starts to the dealer’s left and moves clockwise (until a Reverse says otherwise). On your turn, exactly one of two things happens:
You can play a card
Play one card that matches the top discard by colour, number or symbol — or any Wild. Example: on a red 7 you can play any red card, any colour 7, or a wild card.
You can’t (or don’t want to) play
Draw one card from the draw pile. If that card is playable, you may play it immediately — otherwise your turn ends. You never draw more than one card per turn this way. Yes, you’re allowed to draw on purpose even if you hold a playable card.
When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile (keeping the top card in place) and flip it over as the new draw pile.
Action cards are what turn UNO into UNO. Here’s the short version — the action cards page has every ruling, including the Wild Draw Four challenge.
The next player loses their turn. In a two-player game it acts like an extra turn for you.
The direction of play flips — clockwise becomes counter-clockwise and back again.
The next player draws two cards and loses their turn. Officially, these don’t stack.
You choose the colour that play continues in. Playable on any card, any time it’s your turn.
Pick the colour and the next player draws four — but you may only play it when you have no card matching the current colour. It can be challenged.
The moment you play your second-to-last card, you must shout “UNO!” — one card left. It’s the heartbeat of the game and the rule everyone loves to police.
Forgot to call it?
If another player catches you holding one card without having called UNO before the next player takes their turn, you draw two penalty cards. If nobody notices in time, you’re safe.
There’s no penalty for a wrong accusation — but pointing dramatically is traditional.
Play your last card and the round is over (action cards still take effect — go out on a Draw Two and the next player still draws). You score the total value of every card left in your opponents’ hands: number cards at face value, action cards at 20, wilds at 50.
First to 500 points across rounds wins the game. Full card values, a worked example and the popular alternative scoring method are on the scoring page.