Guide

How to make Uno more fun

The quickest way to make Uno more fun is to add house rules: a few extra rules everyone agrees on before the deal, like stacking Draw Twos or swapping hands on a seven. Zaragata has 342 house rules for Uno in 17 rule sets. These are good ones to start with.

What are good Uno house rules to start with?

Start with the classics, because everyone at the table will have heard of at least one. Stacking lets a player hit with a Draw Two pass it on with one of their own, jumping in lets anyone holding an identical card play out of turn, and the seven-and-zero swap moves whole hands around the table.

Stacking

For the rest of the game, Draw Twos stack: a player hit with one may play their own and pass the whole total to the next player.

Said by The Enforcer

From Stack Attack

Jump In

For the rest of the game, you may jump in: play an exact match of the top card out of turn, and play carries on from you.

Said by The Doorman

From No Time to Think

Seven-O

For the rest of the game, whoever plays a seven swaps hands with a player of their choice, and a zero moves every hand one seat the way play is going.

Said by The Headmistress

From Pure Chaos

What can you write on a blank Uno wild card?

Newer Uno decks come with blank wild cards for a rule of your own. Write something that happens the moment the card lands and that the whole table can see: a swap, a giveaway, a word nobody may say. One line is plenty, and the best ones make somebody groan.

Trade Places

Swap your entire hand with any player.

Said by The Boss

From Classic

Forbidden Word

Pick a word. Until your next turn, nobody may say it.

Say it, and draw one.

Said by The Trickster

From Classic

Pass It On

Everyone passes their whole hand to the next player.

Said by The Enforcer

From Give and Take

Elbow Check

Everyone with an elbow on the table right now draws two.

Said by The Warlord

From Mind Your Manners

How do you make Uno harder?

Make the draw cards hurt more and the way out narrower. Let draws grow as they go round the table, stop anyone going out on an action card, and knock out whoever ends up holding far too many.

Plus Three

For the rest of the game, every Draw Two you play counts as a Draw Three.

Said by The Headmistress

From Stack Attack

No Easy Exit

For the rest of the game, nobody may go out on an action card or a Wild.

Try it, and draw two.

Said by The Doomsayer

From Sudden Death

Breaking Point

For the rest of the game, anyone holding twenty-five cards or more is out of the game.

Their cards go to the bottom of the draw pile.

Said by The Headmistress

From No Holding Back

Karma

For the rest of the game, every Draw Two or Draw Four you play makes you draw one too.

Said by The Grandpa

From Petty Revenge

What is a fair punishment for forgetting to say Uno?

Mattel's own rules make it two cards, if somebody catches you before the next player starts their turn. A sharp table can raise it to four, or make one player say Uno before every card for a round.

Final Countdown

For the rest of the game, anyone caught not saying Uno draws four instead of two.

Said by The Headmistress

From Sudden Death

Uno Police

For the rest of the game, anyone you catch not saying Uno draws four.

Said by The Sheriff

From Mind Your Manners

Uno Before Every Card

On your next turn, say Uno before you play, whatever you hold.

Forget, and draw one.

Said by The Optimist

From Mind Your Manners

How do you stop one player running away with it?

Give the people losing a way back. Rules that hand cards to whoever holds the fewest, or catch whoever is closest to going out, keep the whole table in it until the last card.

Comeback

If you hold more cards than anyone else, give half of them, rounded down, to whoever holds the fewest.

Said by The Warlord

From Sudden Death

Gang Up

Everyone, you included, gives one card to whoever holds the fewest. If that is you, you give nothing. If two are tied, you choose.

Said by The Warlord

From Friends and Traitors

Close Shave

Choose a player holding three cards or fewer. They draw three.

Said by The Vamp

From Sudden Death

Which rules get the whole table talking?

The rules people remember change how the table behaves, not only how many cards they hold. Make somebody royalty, point fingers, or have a player make an animal noise with their next card.

Your Majesty

Until your next turn, anyone who speaks to you must call you Your Majesty.

Forget, and draw one.

Said by The Headmistress

From Mind Your Manners

Fingers Out

On the count of three, every player points at someone else. Each player draws one card for every finger pointing at them.

Said by The Announcer

From Party Line

Farmyard

____ picks an animal. Make its noise as you play your next card.

Play it without the noise, and draw two straight away.

(the name is filled at the table)

From Party Line

Poker Face

For the rest of the game, you may play one card per turn face down and say what it is. Anyone may call you a liar before the next card lands, and then the card is turned over.

Caught lying, draw four. Wrongly accused, the accuser draws four.

Said by The Vamp

From Liar's Table

How does Zaragata change a game of Uno?

With Zaragata the house rules go on the cards themselves. Put a sticker on about twenty cards, pick a rule set in the app and deal, then play Uno the way you always do.

When somebody plays a loaded card, they tap it on the phone and a character reads its rule out loud to the whole table. A secret card stays secret until it is played, so any card in anybody's hand might be the one.

How it works What is Zaragata Get the stickers

Rule sets to try

Stack Attack
Draw cards pile up and nobody backs down. Stacking, escalation and the poor soul at the end of the chain.
Mind Your Manners
Etiquette with teeth. Call-outs, forbidden words and table manners that cost cards the moment you slip.
Open Secrets
Nothing stays hidden for long. Peeks, reveals and confessions: the gentlest deck, and the most knowing.

The app

Zaragata is coming to Google Play and the App Store.

All 342 Uno house rules Work Christmas party games

Not affiliated with the makers of Uno. House rules are the players' own.

Games What is Zaragata How it works The cards The cast FAQ Guides Shop Terms Privacy Contact