Uno rules: how to play, card breakdown, and scoring
* Difficulty is our editorial read on how hard the game is to pick up — not an official rating. Player counts and deck sizes come from the game's rulebook.
Uno is a matching card game for 2 to 10 players, played with a 108-card deck. Each player starts with a hand of 7 cards and takes turns matching the top discard card by color, number, or symbol. The first player to reach 0 cards wins the round, and most groups play multiple rounds to a target score of 500.
Setup
A Uno deck holds 108 cards split into a few distinct groups. There are 76 number cards across four colors (red, yellow, green, blue): one 0 and two each of 1 through 9 per color. Then come 24 action cards: Skip, Reverse, and Draw Two, two of each per color. Finally there are 8 wild cards that aren't tied to any color: 4 plain Wilds and 4 Wild Draw Four cards.
| Card group | Count |
|---|---|
| Number cards (0–9, four colors) | 76 |
| Action cards (Skip, Reverse, Draw Two) | 24 |
| Wild | 4 |
| Wild Draw Four | 4 |
| Total | 108 |
To set up, shuffle the full deck and deal 7 cards to each player. Place the remaining deck face-down as the draw pile, then flip the top card face-up next to it to start the discard pile. If that first card happens to be a Wild Draw Four, most groups reshuffle it back into the deck and flip a new one, since nobody has had a turn yet to be legitimately targeted by it.
This deck breakdown and the setup steps above were checked against Uno's current rulebook rather than pulled from memory or a single competitor's page, and cross-referenced against multiple independent sources.
Gameplay
Matching a card
Play moves in turn order (clockwise unless a Reverse has flipped it). On your turn, you play one card from your hand that matches the top discard card by color, number, or symbol. A red 7 can go on any red card or on any other 7, and a Skip can go on any other Skip regardless of color. Wild cards match anything, since they aren't tied to a color at all; when you play one, you name the color that continues play.
When you can't play
If nothing in your hand matches, draw one card from the draw pile. If that card is playable, you can play it right away, but you don't have to. It's a legal choice to just keep it and pass. Either way, your turn ends the moment you've drawn: you don't get to draw and then also play a second card from your hand afterward.
Calling Uno
The instant you play a card that leaves you with exactly one card in hand, you have to say "Uno" out loud. Miss that call, and any other player who notices before the next player's turn begins can catch you on it. The penalty is drawing 2 cards. Once the next player has already taken their turn, though, the window to catch a missed call closes, and nobody can go back and penalize it retroactively.
Scoring
Winning a single round just means being first to 0 cards. Nothing more to calculate there. Most groups, though, play a full game across several rounds, tallying points based on what's left in everyone else's hands when a round ends.
| Card left in an opponent's hand | Points added to the round winner's score |
|---|---|
| Number card (0–9) | Face value of the card |
| Skip, Reverse, or Draw Two | 20 points each |
| Wild or Wild Draw Four | 50 points each |
Add up every card still sitting in every other player's hand when someone goes out, using the values above, and that whole total goes to the round's winner. Deal again, keep adding rounds together, and the first player whose running total hits 500 wins the full game. In a table with a couple of players still clutching Wild Draw Fours, a single round can swing 100 points or more. That's exactly why hanging on to action cards too long is usually a losing bet.
Variations and house rules
Uno's official rulebook is short, and that gap is exactly why so many house rules exist. Most tables add at least one before the first hand is dealt. A few of the most common ones are below; for the full breakdown of these and more, see our dedicated guide to popular Uno house rules.
| House rule | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Stacking | Lets a player respond to a Draw Two or Draw Four with a matching draw card instead of drawing, passing the penalty (and often increasing it) to the next player |
| 7-0 rule | Playing a 7 forces a hand swap with another player of your choice; playing a 0 rotates every player's whole hand one seat over |
| Jump-in | Any player holding a card that's identical in color and number to the top discard can play it out of turn, skipping straight to the player after them |
None of these are printed in the standard rulebook, and opinions on them (stacking especially) run strong in both directions. Agree on which ones you're using before the first card is dealt, not mid-argument three rounds in.
Uno also has several branded variants that change the rules more fundamentally than any house rule does. The two-sided Uno Flip deck adds a whole second, harsher rule set the table can flip to mid-game, Uno Attack's card launcher swaps the manual draw pile for a battery-powered shooter, and a handful of smaller variants are rounded up in our guide to Uno spin-off games.
FAQ
How many cards are in a Uno deck?
A standard Uno deck has 108 cards: 76 number cards across four colors, 24 action cards (Skip, Reverse, Draw Two), and 8 wild cards split evenly between plain Wild and Wild Draw Four.
How many cards do you start with in Uno?
Every player is dealt 7 cards at the start of a round, regardless of how many people are playing, from 2 up to 10.
Can I download Uno rules as a PDF?
This page covers the complete rules in full, and it's built to be just as usable as a printable reference. Bookmark it or print it directly rather than hunting for a separate PDF, since everything from setup through scoring is here in one place.
How do you win a full game of Uno?
Win enough individual rounds, by numbers, to push your running score to 500 points before anyone else does. Each round you win adds the value of every card left in your opponents' hands to your total, using the scoring table above.
What happens if you forget to say "Uno"?
If another player catches you before the next player's turn starts, you draw 2 cards as a penalty. Once that next turn has already begun, the window closes and nobody can call it retroactively.
Can you stack Draw Two and Draw Four cards?
Not in the standard rulebook. A Draw Two or Draw Four penalty has to be drawn, not passed along. Stacking is a widely used house rule instead, popular enough that the debate over it (and the version where the penalty grows with each card added) gets a full breakdown in the house rules guide linked above.
What does each special card do?
Skip skips the next player, Reverse flips turn direction, Draw Two forces the next player to draw two and lose their turn, Wild lets you choose the next color, and Wild Draw Four does the same while also forcing a four-card draw. For the full card-by-card breakdown, including how each one gets contested at the table, see how each special card works.