DONT SKIP THESE ALTERNATIVES TO UNO

IN 1971...

- Andy Matthews

A man named Merle Robbins had an argument with his son about the rules for Crazy Eights. In a flash of inspiration, he wrote his own set of rules for a new game and dubbed it “UNO.” In UNO, players attempt to empty their hand of cards by playing them to a shared discard pile. This new game contained cards of four different colors numbered 1-9, Wild cards, Skips, Reverses, Draw 2 cards, and the infamous and iconic Draw 4 card. When a player has a single remaining card in their hand they must announce “UNO” to the table to make sure everyone knows they might be able to go out…effectively painting a target on their back.

After raising the $8,000 needed to print 5,000 UNO decks and selling them out of his barbershop, Robbins sold the rights to UNO to International Games for $50,000 plus ongoing royalties. After nearly 50 years, and over 150 million copies sold, UNO is still the undisputed king of custom card games. Love it or hate it, UNO’s success isn’t an accident; it features simple gameplay, colorful artwork and graphic design, and a level of strategy that leaves room for players to chat with friends and family while playing the game.

Even though UNO dominates the card game market, there are still loads of other options. Below are six light card games that I think could replace UNO on your family’s game table.

1 PUSH

2018 | 2–6 Players | 20–25 minutes

At the top of the list is a game that I think could easily unseat UNO as the king of light card games. In PUSH, players “push” their luck in trying to collect more points from a shared deck of cards than their opponents.