Games in class: UNO!

In Friday's class I joined up with a group of 8 to play a game I hadn't played in a very long time, Uno!

http://www.areyougame.com/images/items/MA41001.jpg

Uno is a simple card game for 2 to 10 players. The rules sound slightly complicated with many special cards, penalties, challenges and small rules to remember, but once the game gets going it is all easy to remember.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Uno.jpg/300px-Uno.jpg

Cards:
There are 15 different types of cards that can be played:

• Numbered cards: 0 to 9, these are the basic playing cards found in the four different colours. In order to finish their hand, the player must play one of these cards.
• Skip cards: These are found in the four different colours. These cards skip the next players turn.
• Draw Two: These are found in the four different colours. The next player must draw two cards and cannot place any.
• Reverse: These cards reverse the direction of play.
• Wild: These black cards can be placed on any other card. The person who played this card chooses the new colour. These cards can only be played when the player cannot place any other card.
• Wild, Draw Four: These black cards function like Wild cards with the addition that the next player must draw four cards and cannot place any.  These cards can only be played when the player cannot place any other card.

Rules / How to play:

Along with the special cards that extend the gameplay, there are general rules of play that are easiest to outline while explaining how to play.

• Each player is dealt 5 cards. The dealer then flips the top card of the deck to show the colour and number to start with, this is the discard pile.
• Players can place a card in the discard pile only if the match either the colour or number of the card at the top of the pile (ie the last card placed).
• If a player cannot play any card they draw one from the deck without placing a card.
• Following the rules of any special cards played, play continues until someone runs out of cards.
• Prior to that, any player who has a single card in their hand must say "Uno". If they don't say it and another player catches them the must draw two more cards from the deck.

The group I was in played Uno in a non traditional way according to the official rules. Normally, to make a game last multiple dealings, when one player plays there last card everyone else tallies up the value of their cards (Wild Draw Four is worth 50 points, all other special cards are worth 20 and number cards are worth their face value). Each person's amount is awarded to the player who just played their last card. The game ends when a player reached 500 points. This seems like a good way to extend the gameplay for people who looked up the official rules. But because we only played Uno for 30 minutes, the group I was in competed for first place, then second, and so on.

Things I noticed and what I would change:

I noticed a few interesting thing while playing Uno. One thing I noticed was that personally, I paid more attention to playing the matching colour than the number. I know that the only reason to place a number card is so that you hope that the colour stays so you can get rid of some more cards of that colour. I think this is a good game mechanic in a way. In a way it takes the pressure of strategy off and allows you to have more fun just getting rid of as many cards as you can. It wouldn't make such a fun and easy to play game if you had to carefully think about each card you are placing. 

Something I noticed that I didn't enjoy very much is the fact that at times Uno feels like it is only being played between the few players you have to react to and the few players your move affects. Whatever the players across the group from me played had completely changed by the time my turn came around. Although it was still fun to watch the seemingly endless circles of reverse cards and players repeatedly getting hit with Draw Two or Draw Four cards, at times it felt like the whole point of playing with more than three people was lost. I think that would be the thing I would change in Uno. As a designer I think there would be some way to mix up the gameplay to expand the feeling of a group such as adding Skip Two, or even Skip Three cards. Another card that I think would be interesting is a Wild Next Player card where the one who places chooses the next player (other than themselves), and play continues from there. Also the player who plays the Wild Next Player card loses their next turn (so that they will not just choose the player next to them and get almost two turns in a row.)

Those are only small issues and I think Uno is still a great game none the less. I will definitely be willing to play it much more often in the future, maybe even make my own cards for it!