Mattel's official Uno rules fit on one sheet: deal seven cards each, then on your turn either play one card that matches the top of the discard pile by color, number or symbol, or draw one card, and the first player to empty their hand wins (Mattel 2022 sheet). Stacking Draw cards, jumping in out of turn and swapping hands on a 7 or 0 don't appear in Mattel's classic instructions, which makes them house rules: fine to play, as long as everyone agrees before the deal.
Two Mattel sheets are compared below. The 2022 sheet is Mattel's instruction sheet for the classic UNO card game, © 2022, for 2 to 10 players aged 7 and up (Mattel 2022). The 2001 sheet is an older classic version that still carries the two-player, partner and elimination rules (Mattel 2001).
Official Uno rules vs. house rules at a glance
| Situation | 2022 sheet | 2001 sheet | House rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Draw Two is played on you | Draw 2 and lose your turn | Draw 2 and forfeit your turn | Stacking: add your own Draw Two and pass 4 along |
| A Wild Draw Four is played on you | Draw 4 and lose your turn, or challenge | Draw 4 and forfeit your turn, or challenge | Stacking another Draw card on top |
| Someone holds the same card as the one just played | Not in the rules; play only on your turn | Not in the rules; play only on your turn | Jump-in: slap it down out of turn |
| A 7 or a 0 is played | A number card with no effect | A number card with no effect | 7-0: swap hands on a 7, pass hands on a 0 |
| You can't play | Draw one card and play it if you can | Draw one card and play it if you can | Keep drawing until you can play |
| You could play but would rather not | You may draw instead | You may draw instead, then play only the drawn card | (none) |
| Who may play a Wild Draw Four | Only a player with no card of the discard pile's color; in a challenge, Wilds count as a match | Only a player with no card of the current color; a matching number or symbol in another color doesn't block it | Anyone, any time |
| Forgetting to say "UNO" | Draw 2 if someone calls it first, before the next player's turn | Draw 4 if caught before the next player begins their turn | (varies) |
| First card turned up is an action card | Ignore it and turn up the next card | Draw Two, Skip and Reverse take effect; a Wild Draw Four goes back for another card | (none) |
| Two players | Not covered | Reverse and Skip let you play again; after a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four, play returns to you | (none) |
| Winning | Play your last card; scoring to 500 is optional | First to 500 points | (none) |
Every official cell comes from the two sheets (Mattel 2022; Mattel 2001). The house column describes the versions people bring to the table, which no Mattel sheet backs.
Play a hand by the official rules
These steps follow the 2022 sheet (Mattel 2022):
- Choose a dealer, shuffle, and deal 7 cards to each player.
- Put the rest face down as the draw pile and turn its top card face up to start the discard pile. If that card is an action card, ignore it and turn up the next one.
- The player on the dealer's left goes first, and play moves clockwise.
- On your turn, play one card that matches the top discard's color, number or symbol.
- No match? Draw one card. If it can be played, you may play it right away. You may also draw instead of playing, even when you hold a playable card.
- Once you've played or drawn, your turn is over. If the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile to make a new one.
- The moment you're down to one card, yell "UNO."
- Play your last card and you win the hand.
The 2001 sheet lists a 112-card deck: 19 number cards in each of four colors, 8 each of Skip, Reverse and Draw Two, 4 Wilds, 4 Wild Draw Fours and 4 blank cards, which you can use to replace a lost card or to write in a family rule (Mattel 2001). That adds up: 76 + 24 + 12 = 112. The 2022 sheet's deck includes two newer Wilds, Wild Shuffle Hands and Wild Customizable, and the box adds one collectible foil card for 113 cards in all (Mattel 2022).
What each action card does
From the 2022 sheet (Mattel 2022):
- Draw Two: the next player draws 2 cards and loses their turn.
- Reverse: play changes direction.
- Skip: the next player loses their turn.
- Wild: plays on anything, and you choose the color that continues.
- Wild Draw Four: plays on anything, but only when you hold no card matching the discard pile's color. The next player draws 4 and loses their turn unless they challenge. You choose the color either way.
- Wild Shuffle Hands: collect every player's hand, shuffle, and deal all the cards back out starting with the player on your left, so hands can grow or shrink. Play keeps its direction, and you choose the color.
- Wild Customizable: before the game, pencil your own rule onto it; when it's played, follow that rule and choose the color. One of the sheet's own suggestions is "Take an extra turn."
The Wild Draw Four challenge, worked through
A challenge is the official way to fight back against a +4 (Mattel 2022):
- The player hit by the Wild Draw Four either draws 4 and loses their turn, or challenges you.
- If they challenge, you show them your whole hand.
- If you played it legally, with no card of the discard pile's color, the challenger draws 6 instead of 4 and loses their turn.
- If you played it illegally, you draw the 4 and the challenger draws nothing.
- Either way, you still choose the next color.
Three hands, each played onto a green 5:
- Red 7, blue Skip, green 2, Wild Draw Four. Illegal: the green 2 matches the color. A challenge costs you 4 cards.
- Red 7, blue Skip, yellow 5, Wild Draw Four. Legal. The yellow 5 matches the number, but only color matters here, and the 2001 sheet says outright that a matching number or symbol card in another color doesn't stop you (Mattel 2001). A challenge costs the challenger 6 cards.
- Red 7, blue Skip, Wild, Wild Draw Four. The 2001 sheet only asks about color. The 2022 sheet adds that Wild cards count as a match when the hand is checked, so under the 2022 rules this +4 is illegal and a challenge costs you 4 cards (Mattel 2022). Play the plain Wild instead.
Calling UNO, and catching someone who didn't
On the 2022 sheet, you yell "UNO" the moment you're down to one card. If someone else calls it on you first, before the next player takes their turn, you draw 2 (Mattel 2022).
The 2001 sheet spells out the timing. Nobody can catch you until your second-to-last card touches the discard pile, and nobody can catch you once the next player has started their turn by drawing or playing; if you notice your own slip before anyone else does, there's no penalty. Its penalty was 4 cards, not 2 (Mattel 2001). Pick one penalty before you start; the 2022 sheet's 2 cards is the newer rule.
Scoring to 500: a worked hand
The 2022 sheet treats scoring as an optional way to decide a winner. When a player goes out, they score the cards left in everyone else's hands, and the first player to reach 500 wins (Mattel 2022):
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| Number cards (0 to 9) | Face value |
| Skip, Reverse, Draw Two | 20 |
| Wild, Wild Draw Four, Wild Shuffle Hands, Wild Customizable | 50 |
Say you go out in a four-player game. Left still holds a red 7, a Skip and a Wild Draw Four: 7 + 20 + 50 = 77. Across holds a 2, a 9 and a Reverse: 2 + 9 + 20 = 31. Right holds one Wild Customizable: 50. You score 77 + 31 + 50 = 158 for the hand, and nobody else scores.
Two extras from the 2001 sheet (Mattel 2001). If your last card is a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four, the next player still draws those cards, and they count when points are totaled. And for a slower game, keep a running total of the points each player gets caught holding; when someone reaches 500, the lowest total wins. Playing with four? The same sheet seats partners across from each other, ends the hand when either partner goes out, and gives the team the points in both opponents' hands.
House rules without the arguments
None of these appear on either Mattel sheet, so there's no official version to appeal to. If you add one, settle the details before the deal:
- Stacking. Officially, a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four leaves its victim no move: they draw and lose the turn. If you stack anyway, decide whether a Draw Two can go on a Wild Draw Four and the other way round, and whether the player who finally draws also loses their turn.
- Jump-in. Decide whether "the same card" means the same color and number, and whose turn comes next after someone jumps in.
- 7-0. On a 7, the player swaps hands with anyone they choose; on a 0, every hand moves one seat in the direction of play. The 2022 deck already has an official hand-mixer, Wild Shuffle Hands, so some tables may not want both.
- Draw until you can play. Officially it's one draw, then your turn ends (Mattel 2022). Drawing until you can play makes hands grow faster.
The cleanest way to make a house rule official at your table is the one Mattel built in. Write it in pencil on a Wild Customizable card (Mattel 2022), or, with an older deck, on one of the blank cards, which the 2001 sheet invites families to do (Mattel 2001). No Uno deck in the house? These games you can play with a standard deck of cards need nothing else, and for a crowd of mixed ages there are more table games for Thanksgiving and other big family days.
Uno questions people ask
Can you stack +2 cards in Uno? Not under Mattel's sheets. A Draw Two makes the next player draw 2 and lose their turn, so they never get a chance to answer with a Draw Two of their own. What is allowed: once that player has drawn and been skipped, the next player in line may play a Draw Two on the pile as an ordinary symbol match, which hits the player after them. The 2001 sheet says a Draw Two can be played on a matching color or on another Draw Two (Mattel 2001).
How do you play Uno with 2 players? The 2022 sheet doesn't cover it, but the 2001 sheet has three special rules (Mattel 2001): a Reverse works like a Skip, so you immediately play another card; a Skip also lets you play again right away; and after a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four, your opponent draws and play comes straight back to you. If you'd like options beyond Uno for a pair, here are card games built for two players.
Do these rules apply to Uno No Mercy or Uno Flip? Not automatically. This page covers the classic Uno deck and its two instruction sheets only. If you're holding a spin-off such as Uno No Mercy or Uno Flip, play by the rule sheet in that box, and don't carry its special cards or rules over to the classic deck unless everyone agrees.
Compiled by the Golden Lab Games team from Mattel's 2022 and 2001 UNO instruction sheets.
Sources
- Mattel: UNO card game instruction sheet HJH90, © 2022 (PDF): setup and turn, action cards, Wild Draw Four challenge, UNO penalty, optional scoring to 500
- Mattel: UNO card game instruction sheet, © 2001 (PDF): 112-card deck list, older penalties and starting-card rules, two-player, partner and lowest-score rules