Skip, Reverse, Draw Two, Wild and Wild Draw Four — what each card does, when you’re allowed to play it, what happens when one starts the round, and how the famous +4 challenge works.
The player after you loses their turn — play continues with the player after them. A Skip can be played on any card of the same colour, or on another Skip of any colour.
Two-player note
With only two of you at the table, “skipping your opponent” means you immediately play again. Details on the two-player page.
The direction of play flips: if turns were moving clockwise, they now move counter-clockwise, and vice versa. Play it on a matching colour or on another Reverse.
With exactly two players, a Reverse bounces the turn straight back — it behaves like a Skip.
The next player draws two cards and loses their turn. Play it on a matching colour or on another Draw Two.
Can you stack +2 on +2?
Not in the official rules. The two cards are drawn, the turn is lost, end of story. Stacking is a beloved house rule — treated with the respect it deserves on the house rules page.
Play a Wild on any card, whenever it’s your turn, and announce the colour that play continues in. That’s it — no restrictions, no drama. You may even play it when you hold other playable cards.
A Wild counts 50 points if it’s stuck in your hand when someone goes out, so don’t hoard it forever.
The heavyweight. You announce the new colour and the next player draws four cards and loses their turn. But there’s a real restriction:
The legality rule
You may only play a Wild Draw Four when you have no card matching the current colour in hand. Holding a matching number or action card in a different colour is fine — it’s the colour that matters.
Because everyone bends this rule, the official rules include a way to call the bluff — the challenge.
If you’re hit with a +4 and suspect it was played illegally, you may challenge before drawing. The player who played it must privately show you their hand.
Judgement call
Challenge only when the maths feels wrong — a failed challenge is a six-card swing. And only the targeted player may challenge, immediately, before any cards are drawn.
The first card flipped from the draw pile counts as if the dealer played it:
| First flip | What happens |
|---|---|
| ⊘ Skip | The player left of the dealer is skipped; the next player starts. |
| ⇄ Reverse | The dealer plays first, and play continues to the dealer’s right — the whole round runs in reversed order until the next Reverse. |
| +2 Draw Two | The first player draws two and is skipped. |
| Wild | The first player chooses the starting colour and plays. |
| +4 Wild Draw Four | The only illegal starter — shuffle it back into the deck and flip a new card. |
Retail decks sold since 2018 contain 112 cards: the classic 108 plus a Wild Shuffle Hands card (collect every hand, shuffle the lot, and deal the cards back evenly — then pick the colour) and three blank Wild Customizable cards your table can write its own rules on. Both types score 40 points and both are optional: remove them and you have the classic deck these pages describe.