When it comes to fast-paced and frantic games suitable for families, Uno is one of the card games to beat in terms of popularity. Uno has been a staple of American family get-togethers and reunions. Uno provides a good balance of gentle and chance strategy. The best thing about Uno is that it can be played by all ages such as 10 and so on. For 6 or more people, you will be needing two decks.
Playing Uno, helps the children to develop dexterity, social interaction, and critical thinking. Uno cannot only be played with its own set of rules. If you have one or two decks of Uno cards, you can play multiple games with it. Many of the games can be played by simply varying the classic rules of Uno.
Alternative Game Ideas to Play with Uno Cards
If you are having a deck or two of Uno cards, you will never be bored in family or friends’ gatherings or reunions. There are simple games that you can try with Uno cards.
Sorting
Sorting and order are important skills for subsequent mathematical thinking. Also, it is a great way of using the Uno cards to work on number and color recognition. For the little kids who have just started to learn the numbers and names of colors, flipping a card and naming the color would a great fun for such kids. It is an easy activity and learning for beginners.
Then you can move to the sorting game for kids. You have to stack the cards based on colors. You can do the same thing for sorting and naming the number. If you combine the two attributes, your kid will have to sort the colors and numbers. For example, it can be five blues, all reds, all fours, etc.
Number Grab Game
It is a simple number recognition game. In this game, you will be using the numbered cards of all suits and turn a card over. The first person to say the number on the card keeps it. The winner of this game will be the player having the most cards at the end. For kids, you can ask them to count the cards. It will be a new counting and number learning technique.
To make it difficult, you can turn over the two cards, and the first person to call out the right number will get two cards. To call out the two cards, you have to say 23 for a 2 and a 3 card. To make it to the next difficulty level, you first person to add the numbers and call out the correct sum or multiplication of two cards will keep the cards. For example, a 5 and a 7 card will be 5 + 7 = 12 or 5 x 7 = 35.
Simple Patterns
Uno cards are great for playing with patterns. You will be able to play a game of simple patterns to recognize. Firstly, establish a simple pattern for your child to start the game. You have to start the game with the same number of different colors. Later, you have to mix the colors and the numbers.
For example, yellow 1, red 2, yellow 2, yellow 1, red 2, yellow 2. Now the next card you have to get from your child ask him what is next. If your kid figures it outright, he earns a point. You can have stages or levels to make it interesting for your kids.
Memory
For easy play, you can start the game with numbers like 1 to 4. Later on, you can add more colors and numbers or even action cards. As it gets the name from its name, you have to put the cards upside down. This game can be played with kids to make their memory strong or with elders to know if their memory is strong enough to remember the cards.
To make it more fun, you can add a new rule that if a player matches a pair of skipped cards, the next player’s turn will be skipped. If a player matches a pair of reversed cards, the turn will be reversed to the previous player. With this game, you can also introduce the uno’s rules to older kids with an exciting alternative game.
Go Fish
You can play this basic alternative game with Uno cards by simply reducing the deck to two of each color number. You can add Uno’s additional rules to make this game exciting. Simply, you can include the draw of two or four cards. If a player asks for one of those cards and the other player is not having those cards, they have to pick two or four cards from the pile when they go fishing.
Move It
You will be needing number cards in all colors, as well as wild cards. You will be needing some space to play this game. You have to assign an action to each color. Each player will have their turn and turn over a card. They have to act as assigned to the color and as many times as on the number on the card.
While playing the game, if you or any player flips a wild card, the person on your left will be having the authority to choose an action for you or the player and the number of times to do the action. You can choose the highest card to limit the number of actions in the game.
Guess the Number
This alternative game to be played with Uno cards is to guess the number. It is as head of a celebrity. Instead of guessing yourself as a celebrity, you have to guess which number you are. For this game, you will need number cards only. You have to pick a hard one and without looking at it, hold it against your forehead. You will be able to ask only yes or no questions.
While a player is trying to guess the number, not any other player can tell the number. To make it more interesting, you can set a rule to guess the number and color of the card. Using the same set of rules, you cannot say the number or color of your card.
Card Houses
If you are having a well-worn deck, you can use them to make a house of cards. For the beginners or little hands, it would be a challenging task to do. It might be difficult to keep the cards in one place for a longer time. Hence, you can use blu-tak to ease the frustration.
Also, to make it easier, you can build a house of cards on carpet. It is difficult to build a house of cards on a hard floor or table.
Snap
For younger players, playing snap with a simple set of Uno cards can be a fun game. you only have to match the color and number, but not the color number and suit like you would with normal playing cards. For this game, you will be using a small set of numbered cards. For a short game, you have to choose two numbers for each color. For a longer game, you can use the whole deck of Uno cards.
Uno Cards – Fun Game Ideas for Everyone
If you are having a deck of Uno cards, you can play alternative games with your kids, family, and friends. With simple variations in the basic Uno rulers, you can play learning games. If you are not having board games, you can use Uno cards to play fun games at a family gathering. Making a house of cards, mathematical learning games, and memory testing games can be played with Uno cards.