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Everybody's Mad About Uno (msn.com) 68

More than 50 years after its debut, Uno has achieved unprecedented popularity among adults, but its resurgence is creating problems and confusions as players disagree on fundamental rules. WSJ, in a fun story [non-paywalled source]: Think politics divides? Try mixing competitors with different views on stacking "action" cards, or getting everyone to agree on the true power of the Wild card. And nobody can seem to decide whether staples of the game of their youth -- like mandating players yell "Uno!" when they have one card left -- are socially acceptable at a bar with strangers. Mattel has responded by actively settling rule debates on social media, definitively stating that stacking Draw 2 cards is prohibited, while simultaneously embracing the game's divisive nature through marketing campaigns. The company's "Show 'Em No Mercy" variant, featuring more aggressive rules, became the second-best-selling card game in the United States last year according to research firm Circana, trailing only classic Uno itself.

Everybody's Mad About Uno

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  • by Pseudonymous Powers ( 4097097 ) on Tuesday May 27, 2025 @10:46AM (#65407469)
    If a game doesn't have hit points, I might as well be pushing a hoop down the street with a stick.
    • I'm sure the guy turning a corner and ends up with that hoop at speed between his legs will feel hit points.
      The one who played with the hoop as well if they're caught.

    • by Zak3056 ( 69287 )

      You missed the obvious, "We don't talk about Uno, no, no, no, we don't talk about Uno (but)."

  • by PubJeezy ( 10299395 ) on Tuesday May 27, 2025 @10:47AM (#65407473)
    The internet is an environment and native advertising is pollution.
  • The Fiat car? The Arduino board? The thing that crashes Libreoffice?

    • Re:WTF is Uno? (Score:5, Informative)

      by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Tuesday May 27, 2025 @11:04AM (#65407533) Homepage
      It's a commercial version of the classic card game Crazy Eights, and this is just a viral marketing scheme.
    • by klashn ( 1323433 )

      You could piece together what they're talking about if you know the company "Mattel" and also when they reference "Draw 2" cards.
      You could have also clicked either link.

      • Why should I?

        Is it too hard to type "a board game, Uno that allegedly everyone is mad about", but which is actually largely unknown?

        • One word: clickbait.

        • Re: WTF is Uno? (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Albinoman ( 584294 )
          Largely unknown? Maybe to youngins who grew up on phones, not socializing. It seems to be a family thing. Some families play board and card games. Other families are boring
        • by msauve ( 701917 )
          That would have been even more confusing, since it's a card game, not a board game.

          >largely unknown

          UNO has been one of the top selling games globally (including board games) for decades, and is #1 in the US. And, by one measure it's the top-selling game in the world [cnn.com]. You must live a sheltered life.
        • by Zak3056 ( 69287 )

          Is it too hard to type "a board game, Uno that allegedly everyone is mad about", but which is actually largely unknown?

          Uno is a card game, not a board game.

          • by AvitarX ( 172628 )

            That's completely irrelevant wrt to the search.

            Typing what GP suggested into google gives correct and clear results that will even clarify the confusion about the type of game.

            • by Zak3056 ( 69287 )

              That's completely irrelevant wrt to the search.

              Typing what GP suggested into google gives correct and clear results that will even clarify the confusion about the type of game.

              Speaking of "completely irrelevant," he wasn't suggesting search strings--in fact, it was quite the opposite. He originally claimed he didn't know what "Uno" was, then, when it was suggested he, you know, RTFA, he whined that it would not have been hard for the submitter to type "a board game, Uno that allegedly everyone is mad about" and further claimed that a game that has sold 151 million copies is "largely unknown."

              Then, snarky me came along and corrected his misstatement that Uno was a board game.

        • Everyone in the US older than about twelve has heard of it at least once, it's a cultural phenomenon like Boggle or Monopoly.

        • It's not a board game dumbass, it's a card game.

    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      An STD

    • An admission that a piece of your childhood was missed? Like seriously I didn't know anyone in the world doesn't know Uno.

      • I can only feel sorry for you if wasting time sitting behind a table dishing out pieces of cardboard was such a major piece of your childhood. But that explains your adult obsessions to an extent. Perhaps "The Devil All the Time" isn't as far from reality as I thought.

  • We play UNO at the kitchen table pretty often so I was surprised when we played with another family recently at how many differences there were in what we thought were the rules.

    Now you're telling me no stacking +2 ? Huh.

  • It is a favorite game with my family but we always have to agree upon the rules verbally before we begin playing. A combination of conflicting and vague rules across UNO sets along with various adaptions and house rules make it impossible to know what to expect unless we agree to them before starting a hand. It's also fun to allow different dealers to change one rule, but that gets confusing after awhile!
    • by xevioso ( 598654 )

      All of these issues have already been solved by a game that's been around for 30 years: Magic: The Gathering.
      It has elaborate and straightforward rules about stacking effects, resolving effects, players with priority, "APNAP" (Active players, or the player whose turn it is, playing effects and resolving them vs non-active players), and Instant-speed spells vs Sorcery-speed spells. All of this is an integral part of the game and a fundamental thing any Magic player needs to learn. The "holding priority" st

  • When you only have one card left. It's a Mexican game. [youtube.com]
    • by kackle ( 910159 )
      Ha, we even say "Uno" in other games where the player has "one" (of whatever) left...
  • If you're actually upset about the interpretations of grey-area or unclarified rules in the card game UNO, then that's a strong determinant signal that either:
    - you have a pretty fucking great life, or
    - you're oblivious

  • ... about Uno.

    Even though I did get into Board/Tablegaming 18 months ago and attend the local boardgame meetup once or twice a week.

    Right now I'm regularly playing Scythe [boardgamegeek.com] (with [boardgamegeek.com] extensions [boardgamegeek.com]) and Roll for the Galaxy [boardgamegeek.com] (with extensions [boardgamegeek.com]).

    And I've got a stack of other premium boardgames waiting to be played intensely.
    All of them waaaaay more interesting than Uno.

  • Like monopoly house rules?

    • by taustin ( 171655 )

      One would be hard pressed to determine which game is more prone to house rules. But Uno would likely win.

      • by unrtst ( 777550 )

        One would be hard pressed to determine which game is more prone to house rules. But Uno would likely win.

        Neither. Rummikub would win that :-)

    • We liked adding house rules to Risk.

      Paratrooper rules. Landing-ship rules. Limits on how many armies you could get in a turn. New rules on moving armies around, etc.

  • The only Uno worth playing is Hot Death Uno [boardgamegeek.com]

    It has attack cards, draws that stack (and ones that ends the chain...), as well as counter cards that let you send the attack back to the attacker. There's even a "Draw N" card where N is the numerical value of the card beneath it. (There's a 69 card which can be a 6 or a 9. Or with Draw N, a Draw 69)

    And yes, it's got rather colorful language on it. I know of it from a Windows 3.1 implementation of it, but there's an Android version as well.

  • My kids and I made our own version of Uno. You can definitely stack action cards in our game. Watch out for that Draw 16 card and a bunch of others the kids made up.

    There are a number of places that will print custom playing cards. A little graphics work and some imagination can go a long way.

  • by antdude ( 79039 )

    Stacking Draw 2 and Draw 4 cards rock!

Do you guys know what you're doing, or are you just hacking?

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