Schleicher Uno

Uno…with a twist.

In this version of Uno you only need some regular playing cards, at least 3 people, and some serious attitude. This game can be played as individuals or as teams. You’ve not suffered enough until you’ve had to draw 25 cards at one time.

Determine if you are playing as individuals or as partners. To play as partners or as teams you must have an even number of players. To play as partners, your partner is the player directly across from you. To play as teams, depending on the number of players, create teams of 2, 3, etc. so that everyone is evenly split up.

To determine the first dealer, each player will draw 1 card randomly from the deck. The player with the lowest card is the dealer, with Aces low and Kings high. Players that draw a joker will redraw a card. Start the deal with the player to the left of the dealer and deal 7 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in the middle and flip the top card of the deck to start the game.

Game progression starts with the first person to the left of the dealer. Similar to traditional Uno, that player must play a card of the same suit as the card in the middle, the same numerical value as the card in the middle, or a wild card.

For example, if the card in the middle is a 3 of Clubs, the player could play a 3 of any suit, a club of any numerical value, or a wild card. Once that player plays, the game progresses to the next player. Play continues until a player discards all cards in his or her hand. Note that when a player is down to one card, that player must declare “Uno!”. Failure to declare Uno, and getting caught, will result in that player drawing a card.

Card actions are dependent on their numerical value, and in some cases the suit. Likewise, actions of some cards are different when playing as partners or teams.

Note that stackable cards (2s and Jokers), mean that the penalty is stackable. That is, if a player plays a 2 and the next player also plays a 2, then the following player must draw 4 cards. If that player also has a 2, then the next player draws 6 cards and so on until a player does not have a 2 to stack. There is no limit to the number of cards that can be stacked.

The game is over when a player discards all cards in their hand. Scoring is based on the value of the cards, with certain cards valued higher than others. Each player tallies the total of their cards; teams or partners add the score of all team members together (the team with the member that went out scores 0).

The team with the lowest score at the end wins. The “end” is simply either a predetermined time or a set score threshold (e.g. 500).