How to Play the Uno Card Game Online

One of America’s most classic card games is available online. You don’t need a real deck of cards, or even a friend to play UNO. If you have a computer and an Internet connection, you can now play online, as you can with so many other popular games. Game play is a lot like the original game. Best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. To play UNO on the MSN Games website, you must have a Windows Live ID through Microsoft, or be registered for a free MSN games account. Starting this process is simple, and requires your email address and a nickname as well as a password that you create. If you have an email account that ends in @hotmail.com, you can use that as well.

2. Select the “Play Now” option on the UNO game home page. You will have to read and accept the terms of the End User License Agreement, or EULA, in order to proceed. After you have done so, you will need to install the latest version of the game on your computer if you haven’t done so already, using the MSN Games Installer. Once you have accepted the EULA, the next screen will prompt you to install the game. Once you have MSN Games installed, the game window will pop up once you select the “Play Now” option.

3. Choose the play mode that you desire. You have three options to choose from. You can play against the computer, or you can select to play a Quick Match game in which you are matched with other players who have similar skill levels of playing as you do. The last choice allows you to invite your MSN friends to play the game with you. You can choose to play a rated game or a standard game.

4. Playing the game is easy. According to the site, the goal of the game is to play all of your cards first by matching cards with the same color or symbol as the top card in the discard pile. The discard pile consists of the card the games starts with, and the pile builds as each player subsequently takes a turn. Each card is numbered except the command cards which give you directions to do something, such as “draw Two,” “Reverse,” or “Draw Four.”

5. Taking turns, each player plays one card at a time, or draws a card if they do not have the color or symbol card that matches the last card played. If the person before you plays a command card such as “Draw Two” or “Draw Four,” the computer automatically draws the cards for you and you forfeit playing a card. If a “Reverse” card is played, the game reverses direction. If a “Skip” card is played, the appropriate player’s turn is skipped. If a “Wild” card is played, the person chooses another color. There is a 30 second timer for each individual to play their card. When the player has one card left, they must click the UNO button, or draw two cards as a penalty.

6. To win a round, you must play every card in your hand first. The winner gains points according to the cards the other players have left. The first person to get to 250 points wins the game.

Tips & Warnings

• Play higher numbered cards first. Other players get points at the end of the round based upon the cards other players have left over. You want to prevent other players from getting as many points as you possibly can.