Uno is one of the most popular card games in the world for its entertaining combination of luck and skill. Like most of you, I’ve been playing Uno for most of my life and it is still one of the go-to games that my family and I play together on a regular basis. As in most families, our Uno games get extremely competitive so I decided to do my research and find the best winning strategies. These Othello strategies are powerful tools to increase your winning chances.
In general, the best Uno strategies are to prioritize playing high-numbered cards first, keep a varied hand, target players with few remaining cards, and change the color often. More advanced strategies include bluffing with your wild cards, saving action cards, and exploiting the ‘challenge rule’.
The strategies and tips below range from seemingly obvious to fairly nuanced, so I’ll dive deeper into how and why to apply them in your own games. Remember that Uno is still largely a game of luck so these tips don’t ensure victory. However, over a large number of games, you’ll find that if you implement these strategies you’ll end up winning more often than most.
Play duplicate cards when possible
A good Uno hand is all about having options, so having duplicate number cards is a distinct disadvantage. Having two red “6’s” in your hand doesn’t give you any more flexibility than having just one. If you have the chance to play a duplicate card you should almost always take it.
The main exception to this rule is if a player next to you is about to go out. You should then instead prioritize attacking them with action cards or dumping as many points as you possibly can (play high-value cards first).
Change the color often
Most Uno players tend to prefer getting rid of an entire color from their hand before changing colors and moving on to the next. You can use this behavior to your advantage by taking a different approach.
You should change colors as often as possible to throw your opponents out of their plans and to keep your own hand more varied. Try changing colors to keep a good balance of colors in your own hand, giving you more flexibility when your turn comes around again.
Target players who are close to winning
Uno is all about making other players angry, and there is no better way to do that than to attack them with action cards. If a player next to you is running low and cards and threatening to go out, it’s time to use every means at your disposal to ensure they don’t win the round. This means playing any +4 Wilds, +2’s, Skips, and Reverses from your hand so that they don’t have the opportunity to win.
TIP: There are a ton of different versions of Uno for sale, but I’d recommend this set (link to Amazon) that comes in a metal tin to keep your cards safe and dry. It’s a lot more durable than a cardboard box and makes it easier to bring anywhere.
In this same spirit, you want to unofficially team up against players who are about to win a round. For example, if you are Player 1 and Player 3 is about to win, you shouldn’t play a ‘Skip’ card on Player 2. Give Player 2 a chance to attack Player 3 from his own hand and extend the game.
Don’t get caught holding high-value cards
There comes a time when losing a round of Uno seems inevitable. When this is the case, it’s time to start dumping as many high-value cards from your hand as possible so that you aren’t left with a ton of points at the end of the round.
| Card Type | Point Value |
|---|---|
| Number Card | Face value (0-9) |
| Skip | 20 |
| Reverse | 20 |
| Draw 2 | 20 |
| Wild | 50 |
| Wild +4 | 50 |
Discarding Wilds and Wild +4’s is crucial so that you don’t get stuck with those points if a player wins the round. It is probably even worth playing a Wild when you have other cards of the current color available, leaving you susceptible to a challenge from other players. Challenges are pretty rare (especially for a regular Wild vs a +4), so it’s worth the risk to get rid of 50 points.
Prioritize playing high-numbered cards first
This strategy is pretty standard for most players. Since number cards are worth their face value at the end of a round, it makes sense to prioritize playing high-numbered cards from your hand first. This minimizes the points in your hand and allows you to save your action cards for late in the round.
You can also choose to exploit this behavior if you are familiar with your opponents. If you know that they play their high-numbered cards first, then if they play a low number of a color (0 through 2, for example) you can be reasonably confident that they don’t have any more of that color in their hand.
The flip side of this is that you can bluff your opponents by playing a low-numbered card of a color first, baiting them into thinking you are out of that color. You may even be able to bait them into an unsuccessful challenge on your next turn (more on this later).
Don’t play action cards early in the game
Action cards are where the magic happens in Uno. They give you more power to control the flow of the game and affect the players around you. At the beginning of the game, everyone is more or less on even ground, but as the game progresses you can begin to see which players are ahead and which are behind.
By saving your action cards until later in the game you can prioritize attacking players who are closer to winning the round. You have to exercise caution with this strategy and make sure you don’t go overboard by hoarding so many action cards you can’t get rid of them all. If you get stuck with a lot of action cards at the end of a round then you’ll end up taking a lot of unnecessary points.
Stay vigilant about the ‘Uno’ rule
Uno is literally the name of the game, and it was a brilliant marketing strategy by Mattel to force players to say ‘Uno’ when they have one card left in their hand. Almost everyone has, at one point or another, forgotten to say ‘Uno’ and been forced to draw two more cards.
One trick that I’ve begun using is to get in the habit of whispering the number of cards I have left under my breath after every turn. This encourages you to actively check the number of cards you’re holding after each turn so that you never miss an ‘Uno’ again.
Just as important is to remain vigilant about tracking how many cards your opponents are holding. You should be doing this anyway so that you can prioritize attacking them with action cards when appropriate, but it is especially satisfying to call ‘Uno’ on someone who thinks they’re about to win.
Save a Wild Card for your last card
Saving a Wild for your last card is one of the most common (and most powerful) strategies used by Uno players everywhere. By holding a Wild as your last card you will always be able to play it and win on your next turn, if given the opportunity.
One special case here is when you have a regular Wild and a Wild +4 as your last two cards. It can be a good idea to play the +4 instead of the regular Wild so that the player next to you ends up with more points when you win and the round ends. However, if there are a lot of players this might not be as wise because if play is reversed it gives that player more cards with which to attack you.
Keep note of color imbalances
Keeping track of the relative amount of colors in Uno is a poor man’s version of card counting, and it can be a very powerful strategy to help you win more games. Uno is very commonly a game of streaks. It is usual to see a lot of cards in a single color being played in a row as players look to empty their hands of that color.
You don’t have to count the number of cards of each color that have been played. Taking note of an unusual amount of cards of one color being played is usually enough to give you an advantage. If you know that a great number of blue cards have been played then you know other players are less likely to have blue cards in their hand. You can use this knowledge in conjunction with other strategies in this list to put your opponents at a disadvantage.
Exploit the ‘Challenge’ rule to your advantage
Challenging a player who has played a Wild Card is fairly uncommon in casual Uno play, but it is well within the rules and you should look to use it to your advantage.
The rules say that a player cannot play a Wild Card (or +4) if they have a card of the current color in their hand. Other players may challenge a Wild Card play by demanding to see the hand of the player who played the Wild. If the challenged player has a card in the current color then they must draw the 4 cards, but if they are not guilty then the challenger must draw the 4 cards plus 2 additional penalty cards (6 total).
Let’s say you know that a player always plays their high-numbered cards of a color first and that player has a lot of cards in their hand. On their last turn, they just played a red 9 on a red pile. On this turn, they play a Wild +4 and change the color to red.
This behavior is highly suspicious and it may be worth challenging. You can see that they have a lot of cards in general, and the last red card they played did not indicate that it was one of their last red-numbered cards. That player could just want to unload the +4 card to attack the player next to them or to get rid of 50 points from the hand, hoping that nobody will challenge the play.
You can also use this strategy to ‘bait’ your opponents into an incorrect challenge. If you habitually play your high-numbered cards first you can break your usual behavior and play a low number instead. Then, on your next turn, play a Wild and change to that color hoping that another player with incorrectly challenge you.
Focus your attacks in one direction
This strategy is more about social behavior than straight percentages. Uno tends to be a very emotionally driven game, with players exacting revenge on one another whenever possible. It can be very useful not to anger the players next to you to the point that they seek to target you specifically.
Of course, it is nearly impossible never to anger your neighbors in a game like Uno. However, you can choose to focus your action cards in one direction so that only one opponent is mad at you at any given time. This reduces the likelihood of having both neighbors pile up on you when you’re trying to win a round.
Bluff your color when playing a wild card
When most people are about to win a game they try to change the color being played to the color of the last card in their hand. When you say ‘Uno’ everyone will take special care not to allow you to play your last card.
If you play a Wild and say ‘Uno’ most of your opponents will assume that the color you choose is the color of your last remaining card. In games of 4 or more people, one of your opponents will likely find a way to change the color and thwart your ability to win the round.
Instead of changing the color to the color you need, consider bluffing instead. When the color gets changed you then have the possibility of being able to win the round. Another benefit of bluffing this way is that you aren’t advertising the color of your remaining card and you keep your opponents guessing.
Play to win the game, not every round
A full game of Uno is supposed to last until a player reaches 500 points, at which point the player with the fewest total points wins. Most players understandably try to win every round of Uno, but this simply isn’t realistic.
You have to keep the long game in mind. Sometimes it is better to ‘lose small’ than to try to win a round outright. If you lose a round but take only 6 points, that’s still almost as good as a ‘win’ in the grand scheme of 500 points.
When it becomes clear that the round is going to end soon you want to do everything you can to dump as many points as possible from your hand. Get rid of Wilds first, then action cards, and then number cards starting with high numbers first.
Watch the behavior of players with only one card
You can tell a lot about a player’s hand when they have very few cards left, and this is especially true when they call ‘Uno’. If they keep drawing when the color is ‘yellow’, other players would be wise to keep the color on ‘yellow’ until that player has more cards stockpiled.
It’s also especially important to be mindful of calling ‘Uno’ on players once they reach this phase of the game. Most players get excited and remember to call ‘Uno’ the first time they reach 1 card remaining, but it becomes easier to forget if they reach ‘Uno’ multiple times. If they let their attention wander be sure to jump on them and force them to draw two more cards.
Thanks for reading! If I missed something or you have your own opinions, please drop a comment below.
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