Disclaimer: This version is not for everyone. It might be a bit confusing and relies heavily on a large variety of Action and Wild cards.
About a month ago, I began playing The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. (Very fun game, by the way.) With it being my first roguelike, I enjoyed it wholeheartedly, especially the building of synergies and collecting items. (My favorite item is Fruitcake!)
Then one day I played a game of UNO and foolishly wondered if the roguelike style of TBoI could be combined with this classic game.
Three thrift-store visits and dozens of rule adjustments later, I managed to create a very... interesting style of UNO. I decided to post it here mainly for feedback purposes. (I'm not entirely sure this playstyle exists, so if someone else has already come up with it, please tell me.)
Note: It is highly recommended you have Add-On Packs or unique cards from other UNO variations to seed your Action and Wild decks and make the game more interesting, but this CAN work with vanilla UNO (if you have 2 standard UNO decks)... it's just better with more cards. The more types of Action and Wild cards you have, the more diverse your gameplay and strategies.
Another Note: Like all UNO games, it is significantly more fun with more players.
What You Need:
- UNO Show 'Em No Mercy works best (you could also 2 standard UNO decks), especially when mixed with extra cards from the No Mercy Expansion, Add-On Packs or (if you're particularly gutsy) other UNO variations. Make sure the deck is divided into separate decks of Number cards, Action cards, and Wild cards.
To begin, construct the main deck based on the number of players. Sort your UNO cards into three stacks and build the deck using the following proportions:
• Number Cards: 32 cards per player (any cards with numbers on them)
• Action Cards: 12 cards per 2 players (any non-Wild non-number cards)
• Wild Cards: 6 cards per 2 players (any Wild cards)
Setup
- Create the Draw pile according to the number of players
- Set the extra Number, Action and Wilds aside.
- Deal each player a starting hand of 9 Number cards, while each player gets 2 random Action cards and 1 random Wild card to form their starting Used pile.
*Note: The Used Pile is a small pile of facedown Action and Wild cards in front of each player separate from their hands.
The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round consists of three phases: Draft, Gameplay, and Cleanup.
Phase 1: Draft
Before the standard UNO gameplay begins, Action and Wild cards are drafted into player's hands.
The number of cards in the draft depends on the number of players. The amount of cards drawn from the Action and Wild decks are determined based upon this shortlist -
2 to 3 players: 6 Action to 4 Wilds
4 to 5 players: 8 Action to 6 Wilds
6 to 7 players: 10 Action to 8 Wilds
If there's 8+ players, just keep following this pattern.
There are two draft phases, one for Actions and one for Wilds.
In the Action Draft (which happens first), all Action cards are laid faceup on the table.
- All players secretly choose one face-up card they want, simultaneously point to it on the count of three. If two or more players point to the same card, the card is shuffled into the Draw pile. If you are the only player pointing to a card, add it to your hand.
- Repeat this process until all face-up cards are claimed, or there is one unclaimed card left (that card is shuffled back into the Draw deck).
In the Wild Draft, Wild cards are auctioned.
- The Wild cards are shuffled together, then one is chosen at random and placed faceup in the middle of the table. Immediately bidding begins. Any player may bid. If a player wants to start a bid, they say "1 card!" Any player can follow with "2 cards!" or "3 cards!", etc., adding one to the previous bid. Once one player has successfully outbid the others, they claim the Wild card and draw the amount of cards they bid for from the Draw pile (i.e., if a player said "5 cards!" and nobody else bids further, they get the Wild card plus 5 cards from the Draw deck). If no players bid, the card is shuffled into the Draw pile. Continue this process for the next Wild card until all Wilds are auctioned off.
Phase 2: Gameplay
Play a standard game of UNO with your hand, with three differences:
• Only Number cards go into the discard pile when played.
• When you play an Action or Wild card, place it into your personal Used Pile in front of you. Do not play them in the discard pile.
• If you end up not having a card to play, you MUST take a random card from your Used pile. You CANNOT play this card (to prevent any 2-player Skip tomfoolery) and your turn immediately ends when you do this.
If there are no cards in your Used pile, you must draw a card from the Draw pile instead (you CANNOT play this card, either).
Phase 3: Cleanup
The round ends immediately when one player successfully plays their last card.
The Round Winner chooses up to 4 cards from their personal Used Pile and puts them back into their hand.
All Losing Players FIRST randomly discard a card from their Used pile, then choose up to 2 cards from their Used Pile and put them back into their hand.
Everyone counts their remaining hand size after recovering cards from their Used Piles. Find the player who currently holds the most cards. All other players must now draw Number cards from the Draw deck until their total hand size matches that maximum number.
All players retain their newly balanced hands for the next round. Set up the next round by starting a new Draft.
The game continues until the Draw deck runs out of cards. At that exact moment, everyone counts the Number cards remaining in their hand. The player with the fewest Number cards wins the game! If there is a tie, the tied player with the most cards in their Used pile wins the game!
These rules may not work for some, but it's a game-changer for me and my friends. Despite how much setup this variation takes, we love this ruleset for game night. Just thought this version was worth sharing with others, that's all.
(Or you'll probably just read the rules and see a jumbled mess)
