I have a set of Uno cards at school that I bring out when we have indoor recess because of rain. It’s also great for unexpected extra time in the classroom. Because of standardized testing, we’ve had some extra time these last few days. The seventh graders have really gotten into playing Uno.
It’s been interesting to watch, because there appear to be a host of extra rules you can use when playing. I had never even heard of the possibility, but my students act like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Fascinating.
It is very important to establish the rules at the beginning of the game though. I saw some tempers flare when two students were playing by two sets of rules.
Among the rules I had never heard of:
* If somebody lays a “draw” card on you, you can lay a draw card of the same number, and pass it on to the next person… a “Draw 2” plus a “Draw 2” becomes a draw 4 for the next person.
* You can play more than one card at the same time if they are identical (eg. two blue threes)
* You can play cards in number sequence regardless of their color (eg. any color four can be played on any color three)
* You can play after drawing only if you cry out: “pick and play” before another player cries out: “no pick and play”
* You must say “Uno out” when playing your last card or you must draw cards and stay in the game.
I have to say, I’m a purist when it comes to Uno. The new rules do make the game go faster, but I’d rather play with the simple original rules.
It’s a Star Trek deck.
Star Trek Uno??! Fascinating, Captain! Speaking of stars: May the Fourth be with you. (I forgot to put that on my site.)
Consider yourself lucky that they can keep track of so many rules and also know their colors and numbers. We have ‘Uno Moo’ which is a little plastic barn with globe-shaped ‘animals’ in different colors. The farmer is the wild card. It becomes the ‘shoving the animals in the barn’ game.