UNO Rules
EN
Head to head

UNO for two players

UNO works brilliantly as a duel — the official rules make exactly three changes for a two-player game, all about what action cards do when there’s no “next player” but your opponent.

The official changes

Three rules change — nothing else

  1. Reverse works like a Skip. With two players, “reversing direction” and “skipping your opponent” are the same thing: play a Reverse and you immediately go again.
  2. Skip means you play again. Your opponent loses their turn, so the turn comes straight back to you.
  3. Draw Two keeps your turn. Your opponent draws two cards, their turn is skipped, and you play again. The same applies to a Wild Draw Four — they draw four and you continue.

Everything else stays standard

Seven cards each, match by colour, number or symbol, draw one when stuck, call “UNO!” on your second-to-last card, and score the winner’s points as usual — see scoring.

A note on the rulebook

These two-player rules come from Mattel’s classic printed rule sheets (and are how the community plays head-to-head). The newest rule sheet simply omits the two-player section, so if your deck’s leaflet says nothing — this is the standard everyone uses.

Sharpen up

What changes strategically

Chained action cards are the whole game head-to-head. A Skip into a Reverse into a Draw Two is three turns in a row — entirely legal, entirely devastating. A few honest tips:

The full rulesEverything from setup to winning. Read → Action cardsIncluding the +4 challenge. Read → FAQRulings for common arguments. Read →