Play UNO online with friends

What is UNO?

UNO is a shedding game: everyone starts with a hand of cards and races to get rid of them. The cards come in four colors (red, blue, green and yellow) numbered 0 to 9, plus action cards and Wilds that skip, reverse, pile cards onto other players or change the color.

The rules take a minute to learn, but the action cards make every round swing. And like most card games played at home, UNO gathers house rules; on Ping44 the favorite, stacking Draw cards, is a switch the host can flip.

The deck on Ping44

A full deck has 108 cards:

• Number cards: in each color, one 0 and two of each number from 1 to 9 (76 cards).
• Skip, Reverse and Draw Two: two of each in every color (24 cards).
• Wild and Wild Draw Four: 4 of each.

How to play UNO

1. Everyone is dealt the same number of cards (2 to 10; the recommended settings deal 7). A number card starts the pile, and the rest form the draw pile, which Ping44 calls the market.
2. Turn order is random. On your turn, play a card that matches the top card's color, number or symbol: a blue 7 goes on any blue card or any 7. Cards you can't play are dimmed.
3. Wild cards go on anything, and you choose the color the next player has to follow.
4. Can't play? Go to market and draw one card. Your turn ends after you draw.
5. The first player to play their last card wins the round.

Action cards

• Skip: the next player misses their turn.
• Reverse: play changes direction. With two players it works like a Skip.
• Draw Two: the next player draws two cards and misses their turn.
• Wild: you choose the next color.
• Wild Draw Four: you choose the next color, and the next player draws four and misses their turn. You can play it at any time, whatever else you hold.

Stacking Draw cards

With Draw Two stacking on, a player hit by a Draw Two can answer with another Draw Two or a Wild Draw Four and pass the total on. A Wild Draw Four can only be answered with another Wild Draw Four. The total keeps growing until someone can't answer and draws the lot. A plain Wild never gets you out of a pending draw, and if you have nothing to stack, you draw automatically.

Winning a round

The round ends the moment someone plays their final card. By default you can't go out on an action card or a Wild, so your last card has to be a number card. If the market runs out first, the lowest total in hand wins.

UNO house rules on Ping44

The host sets these in Game settings, and everyone can check them during play. "Use recommended settings" sets up a standard game in one tap: 7 cards each, every action card in, stacking off.

• Starting cards: 2 to 10 per player.
• Turn timer: off, or up to 5 minutes a turn (default 30 seconds). When time runs out, the player draws automatically. "No timer for first round" lets new players learn at their own pace.
• Rounds: 1 to 20, or unlimited (the default).
• Wild cards, Wild Draw Four, Draw Two, Skip, Reverse: each can be taken out of the deck.
• Draw Two stacking: answer a Draw card with a Draw card.
• Can end with special card: off by default.
• Penalty for wrong card: a card that doesn't match, or one played out of turn, costs you two cards instead of just being refused (on by default).
• Game over if market empty: the round ends when the market runs out and the lowest total wins (on by default). Switch it off and the played cards are reshuffled into a new market.
• Play multiple cards: several cards of the same number or symbol in one turn (off in the recommended settings).

Scoring on Ping44

When a round ends, the cards left in each hand are counted. Number cards are worth their number, Skip, Reverse and Draw Two are worth 20, and Wild and Wild Draw Four are worth 50. The winner's total is zero.

Each player then scores the difference between the highest total at the table and their own: the winner scores the most, and the player holding the most points scores nothing. Points add up across rounds on the room's scoreboard, and every round's winner gets a win on their stats.

Tips and strategy

• Change color with a number. A red 4 on a blue 4 switches the color without spending a Wild.
• Keep a Wild for when you're stuck, and save a Wild Draw Four for when the next player is close to going out.
• Get rid of action cards and Wilds early. You can't go out on them by default, and they cost 20 or 50 points if someone else finishes first.
• With two players, Skip and Reverse both give you another turn, so play them back to back.
• Watch the hand counts. Ping44 shows how many cards each player holds, so you know who to aim your Draw cards at.

How to start a game of UNO on Ping44

1. Go to ping44.com, sign in (free, with email or Google) and create a room, choosing whether to switch on voice chat. Friends don't need an account: they join as guests with just a name.
2. Share the invite link, the 6-character room code or the QR code.
3. In the lobby, pick Card, then choose UNO in Game settings.
4. Tap "Use recommended settings" or set your own house rules, then start the game.

Why play UNO on Ping44

• A fair deal. The server shuffles with a cryptographically secure random source, deals every hand and checks every card. Your cards are sent only to you; the others just see how many you hold.
• House rules built in, so there's no arguing mid-game.
• Room for everyone. Up to 20 players a round, and anyone else in the room (up to 100 people) can watch.
• Talk while you play with built-in voice chat and text chat with emote reactions.
• Nobody holds the game up. A player who drops offline keeps their hand while their turns are played for them.
• More games in the same room. Try WHOT, the Nigerian card game played with shapes instead of colors, or deal a hand of Poker. See all our card games.
• Free, with no ads, in English, French and Vietnamese, on phones, tablets and computers.

Frequently asked questions