How to Play UNO · Four Colors
UNO Four Colors is a fast, friendly card game for 2 to 4 players. The goal is simple: be the first to play every card in your hand. This guide walks through the full rules used in this game — setup, turns, every card, scoring, and the strategy that wins matches.
Objective
Each round ends the moment one player empties their hand. That player scores points equal to the total value of the cards still held by everyone else. Rounds continue, adding to a running total, until one player reaches the target score (you choose 250 or 500 before the match). That player wins the whole game.
Setup
- The game uses a standard 108-card deck (see “The Deck” below).
- Each player is dealt 7 cards, one at a time.
- One card is flipped face-up to start the discard pile; the rest form the draw pile.
- Play begins to the left (clockwise) by default; direction can be reversed during play.
Taking a Turn
On your turn you must play a card that matches the top of the discard pile in one of these ways:
- the same color, or
- the same number, or
- the same symbol (e.g. a Skip on a Skip), or
- any Wild card, which can be played at any time.
If you cannot play — or choose not to — you draw one card from the draw pile. If that card is playable you may play it immediately; otherwise your turn passes to the next player. When the draw pile runs out, the discard pile (except the top card) is reshuffled to form a new draw pile.
The Deck
The 108 cards break down as follows:
- 76 number cards — in four colors (red, yellow, green, blue). Each color has one “0” and two each of “1”–“9”.
- 24 action cards — two Skip, two Reverse and two Draw Two in each color.
- 8 wild cards — four Wild and four Wild Draw Four.
The Cards & Their Points
Card values matter because the round winner scores the cards left in every opponent's hand.
| Card | What it does | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Number (0–9) | Play on a matching color or the same number. | Face value (0–9) |
| Skip | The next player loses their turn. | 20 |
| Reverse | Reverses the direction of play. In a 2-player game it works like a Skip. | 20 |
| Draw Two (+2) | Next player draws 2 cards and is skipped. | 20 |
| Wild | Play on any card and choose the next color in play. | 50 |
| Wild Draw Four (+4) | Choose the color; next player draws 4 cards and is skipped. | 50 |
Saying “UNO!”
When you play your second-to-last card — leaving you with a single card — you must call “UNO!” by tapping the UNO button. If you forget before your window closes, you are caught and draw 2 penalty cards. You can also catch an opponent who forgets to call it.
Stacking (optional rule)
Before a match you can turn Stacking on or off. With stacking on, a player hit with a +2 may respond with their own +2 to pass the penalty along; the draw count piles up (2 → 4 → 6…) until a player can't respond and draws the entire stack. +4 stacks on +4 the same way. With stacking off (the official rule), the targeted player simply draws the cards and is skipped.
Scoring & Winning
When a player goes out, they receive points for all the cards remaining in their opponents' hands using the values above. Those points accumulate across rounds. The first player to reach the chosen target (250 or 500) wins the match. Because Wild cards are worth 50 and action cards 20, a hand full of them can hand the winner a large score in a single round.
Strategy Tips
- Shed high cards early. If you might get caught holding cards, lose the 50-point Wilds and 20-point actions first.
- Save a Wild for emergencies. One Wild guarantees you can always play, which helps you avoid drawing when you're close to winning.
- Watch hand counts. When an opponent is down to one or two cards, use Skip, Reverse, and Draw cards to disrupt them.
- Manage color balance. Keeping at least one card of the current color prevents forced draws.
- Time your +4. A Wild Draw Four is most powerful right before an opponent's turn when they're about to win.
- Don't forget UNO. Calling it the instant you reach one card avoids the 2-card penalty.