Uno Rules

What you need

A 108-card deck and 2–8 players (Uno is a trademark of Mattel — HostBox hosts an independent Uno-style game with the same classic ruleset, not affiliated with or endorsed by Mattel). Or skip the deck and play a free Uno-style game in your browser — the TV shows the discard pile and your phone holds your hand.

The deck

Four colors — red, yellow, green, blue — each with one 0, two of each 1–9, and two each of Skip, Reverse, and Draw Two. Plus four Wilds and four Wild Draw Fours. 108 cards total.

Dealing & the first flip

1. Everyone gets seven cards; the rest become the draw pile.
2. Flip the top card to start the discard pile. Officially, an action card on the first flip takes effect (a Wild Draw Four is reshuffled); many tables — including HostBox — simply reshuffle until a plain number card starts the game.

Taking a turn

1. Match the top discard by color or by number/symbol, or play a Wild.
2. Skip — the next player loses their turn. Reverse — turn order flips direction. Draw Two — the next player draws two cards and is skipped.
3. Wild — play on anything and choose the color. Wild Draw Four — choose the color and the next player draws four and is skipped; officially you may only play it with no matching color in hand.
4. Can't play? Draw one card. If it plays, you may play it immediately; otherwise your turn ends — you never draw more than one card per turn.

Calling UNO

The moment you're down to one card you must call "UNO!" If an opponent catches you before your next turn, you draw two cards as a penalty. On HostBox this is a real race — a big UNO! button on your phone against everyone else's Catch! button.

Scoring

1. The first player out of cards wins the round and scores everyone else's leftover cards.
2. Number cards count face value; Skip, Reverse, and Draw Two count 20; Wilds count 50.
3. Play rounds to a target score — 500 is the official game; 200 or 300 make a shorter night.

The disputes every table argues about

Can I stack a Draw Two on a Draw Two? Not in the official rules — the penalized player draws and is skipped, no passing it on. (HostBox plays it official: no stacking.)

Can I play a Wild Draw Four with a matching color in hand? Officially no, and the next player may challenge you: lose the challenge and you draw four instead. Most casual tables — and HostBox — skip the challenge and let it fly.

What does Reverse do with two players? It acts as a Skip — you go again.