Whenever I play a game with someone new, we quickly realize we have to clarify the rules we’re using beforehand, since so many people have their own varieties. What are some non-standard game rules that you/your family/friends follow?
I’ll start. My family has a rule where we’re not allowed to win on a Wild card. It adds a bit of challenge, and keeps someone from being unbeatable if they play by hoarding wild cards.
We play speed Uno. If you have the identical card as the card that’s played, you can lay it down if you get it to the pile before the person whose turn it is lays down theirs. Play then continues from you.
I’m glad I saw this post today - I played with kids at lunch and we used your rule. It adds a bit of speed and keeps everyone paying attention.
I had a friend who played this way too and I honestly love it, keeps the game a little more dynamic and fun.
We don’t play these rules every time, but they’re incredibly fun.
On a 0, we all swap hands in the direction of play.
Placing a 7 allows you to swap hands with a person of choice.
+2 cards can be stacked, the first person without a +2 takes all of them
If you can’t play on your turn, you keep drawing until you can.
If you combine that rule with the ability to endlessly stack Draw 2 or Draw 4 cards, you have what I think may be the most evil version of Uno that can be played. We called it Thermo-Nuclear Uno (i.e. Mutually Assured Destruction) since you knew that dropping a Draw 4 would almost certainly lead to someone being buried in cards and it might even be you. Even if you manage to dodge the stack, payback is coming and you won’t get lucky every time. I can remember games that we would finally just quit after an hour since no one would ever be able lay down their last card. Merging two decks can make this even more brutal and cuts down on interplay shuffles too.
We have a custom Fuck Uno card that is +12.
Strict rules, buddy. If it’s your turn and you ask if it’s your turn, +2. You go out of turn? +2. Everyone’s looking at you weird? Believe it or not, +2.
Doubles and stacking.
I’m not playing with that “pull until you draw a playable card” rule. It can be a wild card, but as a general rule, nah.
I’ve seen a variant that allows consecutive/same cards to be played in one go, so for example 123456. People ended up finishing their cards in very few turns.
if there are only 2 people we get rid of the draw 4 cards
I play by challenge and double down/jump in rules.
Challenge rule: if the person plays a wild and the next player decides to challenge it, the person being challenged shows their hand to the next person in line, and if there was another card that could have been played instead, The person who played the card has to either draw two cards, or if it was a wild draw four, they draw the cards instead. However they were wrong, then they draw the penalty cards (so if it was a draw 4 they draw 6, and a standard wild they draw 2)
stacking/double down/jump in: If any player has a card that is identical to the current revealed card, they can jump in, and play that card as long as the next player has not started playing their turn. When a player jumps in, the turn order starts as if they had just had a turn, so it would be the next person from their position. If the card was a card that required a player to draw, the effect of the original card is cancelled, unless the player jumping in was the player that would have received the cards, in which case the effect is stacked and given to the next player(so a draw 4 becomes a draw 8), This effect can continuously be stacked as long as someone else doesn’t jump in or the person doesn’t have an identical card to continue stacking.
I win or you get eaten by kittens
We only have one house rule: anyone who suggests Uno gets beaten.
