MarketUno (card game)
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Uno (card game)

Uno, stylized in all caps as UNO, is a proprietary American shedding-type card game originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins in Reading, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, that housed International Games Inc., a gaming company acquired by Mattel on January 23, 1992.

History
The game was originally developed in 1971 by Merle Robbins in Reading, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. When his family and friends began to play more and more, he and his family mortgaged their home to raise $8,000 to have 5,000 copies of the game made. He sold it from his barbershop at first, and local businesses began to sell it as well. Robbins later sold the rights to Uno to a group of friends headed by Robert Tezak, a funeral parlor owner in Joliet, Illinois, for $50,000 plus royalties of 10 cents per game. Tezak formed International Games, Inc., to market Uno, with offices behind his funeral parlor. The games were produced by Lewis Saltzman of Saltzman Printers in Maywood, Illinois. In 1992, International Games became part of the Mattel family of companies. File:UNO logo 1992.webp|Logo used from 1997 to 2010 File:UNO logo 2010.webp|Logo used from 2010 to 2016 File:UNO Logo.svg|Logo used since 2016 ==Official rules==
Official rules
The aim of the game is to be the first player to play all of one's own cards. A player who plays a Wild Draw Four may be challenged by the next player in sequence (see Penalties) to prove that their hand meets this condition. An illegally played Wild Draw Four card incurs no penalty for its user unless challenged. • A player using a Wild or Wild Draw Four card must declare the new matching color before ending their turn, and may declare the current color if desired. • If the draw deck runs out during play, the top discard is set aside and the rest of the pile is shuffled to create a new deck. Play then proceeds normally. • It is illegal to trade cards of any sort with any other player at any time. A player who plays their penultimate card must call "Uno" as a warning to the other players. The first player to get rid of their last card ("going out") wins the hand and scores points for the cards held by each other player. Number cards count their face value, all action cards count 20, and Wild and Wild Draw Four cards count 50. If a Draw Two or Wild Draw Four card is played to go out, the next player in the sequence must draw the appropriate number of cards before the score is tallied. The first player to score 500 points wins the game. Penalties • If a player does not call "Uno" while laying down their penultimate card and is caught before the next player in sequence takes their turn (i.e., plays a card from their hand, draws from the deck, or touches the discard pile), they must draw two cards as a penalty. If the player is not caught in time or remembers to call "Uno" before being caught, no penalty applies to that player. This rule is not mentioned in the instruction sheets of modern copies of the game. • Seven-O: Every time a "7" is played, whoever played it must swap hands with another player of their choice before ending their turn. Every time a "0" is played, all players pass their hands to the next player in the current direction of play, after which play continues normally. == Card and deck styles ==
Card and deck styles
Modern Uno action cards bear symbols which denote their action, except for the Wild cards which still bear the word "Wild". Before the design change, such cards in English versions of the game had letters only. Earlier English versions can be recognized by the absence of the white rim that surrounds the edge of most Uno cards. Other versions of the game use symbols and images in both old and new designs, especially ones with Wild cards that do not bear the word "Wild". There are also language-free versions of the newer styles that do not bear the word "Wild" but have the same styling. The 2010 "Uno Mod" edition uses symbols instead of letters or numbers. On September 16, 2017, Mattel released Uno ColorAdd, which was designed specifically for colorblind people. On October 1, 2019, Mattel released a Braille version of their game with Mark Riccobono, president of the National Federation of the Blind. Riccobono said in a press release, "The fact that a blind person is now able to play a classic game of UNO straight out of the box with both blind and sighted friends or family members is a truly meaningful moment for our community." The year 2024 saw the introduction of small shapes into the decks for better color blindness accessibility, a part of a larger effort by Mattel to make 80% of its game catalog more playable to people in that disability sector. The shapes used are diamonds for yellow, circles for red, squares for blue, and triangles for green. == Special Uno games ==
Special Uno games
Uno Golf (Uno Zero in Europe) (2025) • Uno Elite (2024) • Uno Teams! (2024) • Uno Flip Attack (2024) • ''Uno Show 'Em No Mercy'' (2023) • Uno Flex! (2023) • Uno Go! (2022) • Uno Quatro (2023) • Uno Wild Twists (2022) • Uno All Wild (2022) • Uno Deluxe (2022) • Uno Remix (2022) • Uno Party! (2022) • UNO Ultimate™ Marvel (2022) • Uno Play With Pride (2021) • Uno 50th Anniversary (2021) • Uno Lightyear (2021) • Uno Triple Play (2021) • Uno Showdown Supercharged (2020) • Giant BTS Uno (2020) • Electronic Uno (2020) • Uno Flip! (2019) • Uno Harry Potter (2019) • Uno Attack Jurassic World (2018) • Uno Minecraft (2018) • Get Wild for Uno (2016) • Giant Uno (2016) • Uno Wild Jackpot (2016) • Uno Emoji (2016) • Uno Tiki Twist (2014) • Uno Dare (2014) • Uno Royal Revenge (2014) • Uno Moo (2008, 2014) • Uno Power Grab (2012) • Uno Blast (2012) • Uno Choo-Choo (2011) • Uno Horses (2011) • Uno Dice (1987, 1996, 2011) • Uno Reflex (2010) • Uno Roboto (2010) • Uno Spin To Go (2010) • Uno Tippo (2009) • Uno Flip (2009) (Target Store Exclusive) • Uno Flash (2007) • Uno Attack Refill Deck (2005) • Uno Spin (2005) • Uno Spin Hannah Montana (2005) • Uno H2O (2004) • Uno Blitzo (2000) • Uno Attack (Uno Extreme in the UK and Canada) (1999) • Uno Bingo (1997) • Uno Madness (1995) • Uno Hearts (1994) • King Size Uno (1994) • Uno Stacko (1994) • Uno Rummy Up (1993) • Uno Junior (1992) • Uno Wild Tiles (1982) • Uno Dominoes (1986) • Uno Color ScreenUno H2O To GoUno Spin One Piece (Japan) • Travel Uno Stacko Uno H2O Uno H2O differs from the standard game in that the cards are transparent and waterproof. Play is identical to the standard pre-2018 Uno game, with the addition of two types of "Wild Downpour" cards. When one of these is played, all other players must draw either one or two cards as indicated on the card. The player using it may then declare the next color to be matched. Several of the other sets have been released in this format. Uno Fandom series In 2023, Mattel's imprint Mattel Creations released a special collector's series of Uno games based on fandom of fictional properties and sports teams. The initial group of sets in this series included those based on all 32 NFL teams and several fictional properties, including Star Trek, Harry Potter, Masters of the Universe, Avatar: the Last Airbender and Monster High. Most are exclusive to the Mattel online store and can only be purchased directly from the store. == Video games ==
Video games
Uno DX (Sega Saturn) and Uno (PlayStation) – 1998 • Uno (handheld video game) – 2000 • Uno (handheld video game for the Game Boy Color of the classic Uno board game) • Uno DX (Japanese exclusive Sega Saturn game by Mitsui & Co. – 1998) • Uno (PlayStation Network) • Uno (Xbox Live Arcade) • Uno Rush (Xbox Live Arcade) • Uno Challenge (mobile version of the classic Uno board game) • "Uno: Vahalla" (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows); 2022 • Uno Free Fall (puzzle game for mobile phones) • Uno 52 (Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS) • Super Uno (Super Famicom) • Uno (Facebook) (Adobe Flash–based version of the classic Uno card game produced by GameHouse) • Uno (iPhone) Features online and local play. Produced by GameloftUno (iPad) The same as on the iPhone, but with enhanced graphics. Produced by GameloftUno (Android) Released as three versions: SD, HD and Free with adverts. Produced by GameloftUno (DSi)Uno (WiiWare) Produced by GameloftUno & Friends (various platforms) • Pocket UnoUno and Uno & Friends for Windows Phone • Uno Undercover (Windows) • Uno (2016 video game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One by Ubisoft) • Uno (2017) – the 2016 game release on the Nintendo Switch), produced by Ubisoft == Variations ==
Variations
Many variations from standard gameplay exist, such as Elimination Uno, Speed Uno and Pirate Uno. On February 13, 2018, Mattel released a spin-off of Uno entitled Dos; the game is differentiated primarily by having a "center row" of discard piles, where pairs of cards that add up to the sum of a card on the top of one of the piles may be discarded. The game can be played with two decks of standard playing cards if the jokers are marked up as the zeroes of the four suits and the royalty treated as the special cards. After mixed reviews for the original game, Mattel released another version of Dos titled Dos Second Edition, which plays more like Uno but still includes some rules from the original Dos. The new Dos has Skip, Reverse and Draw Two cards (which were not included in the original Dos) but retains the Wild Dos Card and the two discard piles. A new card was introduced known as the Wild Play Two Card, forcing the next player to play a minimum of two cards, if they can not they play nothing and draw two cards. Like Uno, players start with seven cards and the main way to win is by discarding all cards first. ==Spin-offs==
Spin-offs
Slot machines In 2002, International Gaming Technology introduced a "pod concept" for grouping the prize winnings of similarly themed and newly released MegaJackpot games into one collective pool. Among these was the new Famous Games pod, unveiling two new Mattel-licensed machines, UNO Slots and Magic 8 Ball slots. In the following two years, additional properties were tied into the pod, along with the Video Slot versions of both UNO and Magic 8 Ball. The UNO slot machine featured a basic vertical 3 wheel system, along with 3 additional horizontal wheels that would activate when 3 UNO bonus symbols in any position were landed with the maximum bet wagered. Meanwhile, the UNO Video Slot Machine featured a 5 reel, 15 line Video system with additional UNO Attack and UNO Triple bonus games awarded based on the symbols landed. Both versions saw limited releases to various Native American gaming centers. were teaming up to create a game show based on the card game, produced as a half-hour daily strip with a $100,000 cash jackpot along with a primetime version in which contestants competed for $1 million. However, the idea was scrapped later on. Film adaptation On February 4, 2021, an action heist comedy film based on the game was announced to be in development for Mattel Films with Lil Yachty of record label Quality Control Music developing and being eyed for the lead role alongside the label's managers Kevin "Coach K" Lee and Pierre "P" Thomas, and Brian Sher for Quality Films producing, Marcy Kelly writing, and Robbie Brenner and Kevin McKeon leading the project as executive producer and supervising producer, respectively. ==Similar games==
Similar games
Uno is a member of the shedding family of card games. The shedding family of card games consists of games where the objective is to get rid of all of one's cards while preventing the other players from getting rid of their cards. • Crazy EightsBlack Jack (Switch)Switch (card game)EleusisLast CardMacauMaoMau-Mau (card game)O'NO 99One Card (game)Phase 10Skip-BoTakiWhot! ==Reception==
Reception
The Games magazine included Uno in their "Top 100 Games of 1980", noting that the game "borrows so much from the familiar card game of Crazy Eights" but that "it's a much better game and just as simple to learn". They would later include the game in their "Top 100 Games of 1982", noting that its "popularity is based on its simplicity, not on its strategic aspects" and that "the game has a rummylike scoring system". ==Reviews==
Reviews
Family Games: The 100 Best ==References==
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