16 UNO Card Games for Family Game Night

An UNO deck can do more than play classic UNO. These 16 games and activities give your family options for a quick card game, a quiet sorting challenge or a movement break, with setup instructions, examples and ways to simplify the rules.

These activities are house-rule games unless stated otherwise. For comparison, Mattel’s official UNO page describes classic play as matching the top card by color or number, with action and Wild cards changing the game.

Choose rules and movements that suit everyone playing. Closely supervise children who might mouth game materials, and never substitute coins, building bricks or other small counters. Clear the floor before movement games, and keep thrown cards away from people, pets and breakable objects.

16 Exciting Uno Card Games to Enjoy.

Keep the whole family involved by choosing a calm sorting challenge, an active movement game or a familiar card-game adaptation. Every activity below uses an UNO deck, although several work best after removing action and Wild cards.

House-rule note: The rules below are complete versions for family play rather than official UNO variants. Agree on any variation before dealing so that every player knows the goal.

1. Sorting

Materials and setup: Use the full UNO deck. Place a red, yellow, green and blue card face up as sorting headers, then shuffle the remaining cards into a draw pile. Leave another space for Wild cards.

1. Turn over the top card.
2. Place a numbered or action card beneath its matching color header.
3. Place a Wild card in the separate Wild group.
4. Explain the choice before the next player takes a turn.

Example: You reveal a blue Draw Two card. It belongs in the blue group because its printed color controls the sort.

Finish: Complete the game when every card has a place. For competitive play, divide the cards evenly and check accuracy after everyone finishes; the player with the fewest misplaced cards wins.

Variation: Sort by numeral, by numbered and action cards, or by cards that can and cannot change the direction of classic play.

If sorting becomes confusing: Begin with numbered cards in two colors. Add the other colors and special cards once the first groups are secure.

2. Patterns

Materials and setup: Remove action and Wild cards. Select cards that can repeat a simple rule, such as alternating colors or increasing numerals, and place the rest aside. Start the pattern with several face-up cards.

1. Study the existing sequence.
2. Choose one card that continues the same rule.
3. Place it at the end and say the rule aloud.
4. If it does not fit, return it to the supply and try another card.

Example: The row shows red 2, blue 2, red 2. A blue 2 continues the alternating-color pattern.

Finish: Stop when the prepared supply is used or the pattern reaches the edge of the playing space. Complete the challenge by checking the sequence from beginning to end.

Variation: Build a growing pattern, such as red, blue, blue, red, blue, blue. Another player must identify the repeating unit before adding a card.

If several cards seem valid: Ask the pattern maker to state the intended rule. Accept another answer when the player can explain a consistent rule that fits every card already placed.

For more ways to model a repeating rule, try these everyday pattern and sequence activities.

3. Number Grab

Materials and setup: Use numbered cards only. Spread them face up across the table without overlaps, and choose one person to call the numerals.

1. The caller names a numeral that remains on the table.
2. Players look before reaching and touch one matching card.
3. After the caller verifies it, the player takes the card as a point.
4. The caller then names another available numeral.

Example: The caller says “seven.” A player touches a green 7, keeps it and waits for the next call.

Finish: Continue until no cards remain. The player with the most collected cards wins, or combine everyone’s cards for a cooperative finish.

Variation: Call a color and numeral together, or use clues such as “a red number smaller than five.” For quieter play, let each player search alone during an assigned turn.

If players reach for the same card: Return it to the table and call again. Do not allow pulling cards from another person’s hand. Separate search areas or use turn-taking when quick grabbing causes conflict.

4. Count and Match Colors

Materials and setup: Select numbered cards within the counting range that suits your child. Shuffle them face down and leave four clear spaces for red, yellow, green and blue groups.

1. Draw the top card and name its color.
2. Read the numeral, then count aloud from one up to that amount. For zero, say “zero” without counting further.
3. Place the card in its matching color group.
4. Pass the turn to the next player.

Example: A player draws a green 4, says “green four,” counts to four and places it in the green group.

Finish: The activity is complete when the draw pile is empty and every card is in the correct color group. For a competitive version, keep correctly completed cards and compare totals at the end.

Variation: Ask players to put each color group into numerical order after sorting it.

If counting and sorting together is too difficult: Complete the color sort first. Go through each finished pile again to identify and count the numerals.

5. Find It

Materials and setup: Remove action and Wild cards, then arrange the numbered cards face up in a clear grid. Choose a caller for the first round.

1. The caller describes a visible card without pointing to it.
2. Other players search and touch a card that fits the clue.
3. The caller checks the answer. A correct finder keeps the card and becomes the next caller.
4. If no card fits, the caller gives a new clue.

Example: The clue is “Find a yellow 6.” A player locates that card, explains how it matches and removes it from the grid.

Finish: Continue until the grid is empty. The player with the most cards wins, or work together to clear the grid without keeping individual scores.

Variation: Use broader clues such as “a blue card” or more demanding clues such as “an even numeral on a green card.”

If a clue has several answers: Accept any card that fits the words used. The caller should add another detail next time if only one answer is intended.

6. Memory

Materials and setup: Select pairs of numbered cards that share the same numeral; their colors may differ. Shuffle them and arrange them face down in orderly rows. Traditional Concentration rules from Bicycle Cards also use matching ranks and award the win to the player collecting the most pairs.

1. Turn over two cards without moving their positions.
2. If the numerals match, keep the pair.
3. If they do not match, show everyone and turn them face down again.
4. Pass the turn after either result.

Example: A player reveals a red 5 and a blue 5. The matching numerals make a pair, so the player keeps both cards.

Finish: The game ends when every pair has been collected. The player with the most pairs wins.

Variation: Require an exact match of color and numeral, using duplicate UNO cards. For cooperative play, count how many turns the group needs to find every pair and try to improve next time.

If remembering the grid is frustrating: Use fewer pairs and keep the cards in fixed positions. Do not reshuffle them during the game.

7. Go Fish

Materials and setup: Use numbered cards and remove action and Wild cards. Deal five cards to each player and place the remaining cards face down as the fishing pond. Everyone lays down any same-numeral pairs already held.

1. Ask one player for a numeral that appears in your hand.
2. If that player has it, they give you one matching card. Lay down the completed pair.
3. If not, they say “Go fish,” and you draw one card from the pond.
4. Lay down a pair if the drawn card matches one in your hand, then end your turn.

Example: You hold a yellow 8 and ask for an eight. The other player gives you a blue 8, so you place the pair face up in front of you.

Finish: Continue until the pond and players’ hands are empty, or no legal request remains. The player with the most pairs wins.

Variation: Allow a successful player to ask again. For easier play, keep hands face up and help each other choose a possible request.

If someone runs out of cards early: They draw a new card at the start of their turn while the pond remains. If play stalls after the pond is empty, reveal hands and match the remaining pairs together.

8. Snap

Materials and setup: Use numbered cards for the clearest game. Divide them into face-down piles so each player has a personal pile, and leave space for one shared center pile.

1. Players take turns revealing the top card of their personal pile onto the center pile.
2. When two consecutive cards share a color or numeral, anyone may call “Snap.”
3. The first clear caller takes the center pile and places it in a separate score pile.
4. Continue revealing from the personal piles; won cards are not returned to play.

Example: A red 6 is followed by a blue 6. The numerals match, so the first player to call “Snap” wins the center pile.

Finish: Stop when all personal piles are empty. The player with the most cards in their score pile wins.

Variation: Require exact color-and-numeral matches, or make color the only matching feature.

If calls are disputed: Leave the pile in the center and continue until the next valid Snap. Calling aloud is safer than slapping the cards or reaching across other players’ hands.

9. Move that

Materials and setup: Choose numbered cards with amounts that everyone can perform comfortably. Clear the floor or arrange stable chairs, then agree on a movement for each color: red can mean knee taps, yellow claps, green arm lifts and blue steps or shoulder rolls.

1. Draw a card and name its color and numeral.
2. Perform the color’s movement the number of times shown.
3. For zero, hold a still pose instead.
4. Place the completed card in a discard pile and pass the turn.

Example: A player draws a blue 3. If blue means shoulder rolls, the player completes three controlled shoulder rolls.

Finish: Work together until the selected cards are gone. If players want a winner, award each accurately completed card to that player and compare cards at the end.

Variation: Let each person invent an accessible movement for one color. Players may perform movements seated, standing or through a partner who describes the action.

If anyone becomes tired or unsteady: Stop, sit down and replace the movement. Use lower numerals, avoid jumping and keep the area free from bags, furniture and loose cards.

10. Card Houses

Materials and setup: Use as many UNO cards as you wish and work on a flat, stable surface. A table covering with some grip can help prevent sliding.

1. Create a basic support by leaning two cards together as an upside-down V.
2. Add another support beside it.
3. Lay a flat card across the supports to make the next floor.
4. Players take turns placing one card without holding the structure for the next player.

Example: Two card supports stand side by side. A player carefully places one card across their tops to create a roof and base for another level.

Finish: Agree beforehand whether the goal is to use the selected supply or build the most complete levels. In competitive play, each player builds separately and the structure with the most standing levels wins.

Variation: Build one shared house, a bridge or a row of connected tents. Colors can represent different rooms or sections.

If the cards keep slipping: Move away from fans, use a less slippery surface and build shorter, wider structures. Do not crease the cards or add small objects as supports.

11. Identify the Number

Materials and setup: Remove action and Wild cards. Choose numerals that suit the players, shuffle them and hold the deck so the faces remain hidden.

1. Reveal the top card to the active player.
2. The player names the numeral. You may also ask for the color.
3. For a correct answer, the player keeps the card.
4. After an incorrect answer, give a helpful prompt and place the card at the bottom for another attempt later.

Example: You reveal a yellow 7. The player says “seven,” keeps the card and passes the turn.

Finish: End when the draw pile is empty. Compare collected cards for a competitive game, or treat identifying the entire pile as a shared completion goal.

Variation: Ask for the numeral that comes before or after the card. Players can also arrange collected cards from lowest to highest.

If similarly shaped numerals cause confusion: Hold every card in the same upright direction and allow the player to turn it for inspection. Keep a face-up numeral sequence nearby as a reference.

To practise connecting numerals with quantities, try these number activities for home.

12. Throw Cards

Materials and setup: Use UNO cards, a wide laundry basket or open box, and a clear area. Mark a throwing line at a comfortable distance with a sheet of paper or another large, flat marker. Divide the cards evenly.

1. Stand or sit behind the line with one card.
2. Name its numeral or color.
3. Toss it underarm toward the container.
4. Leave all thrown cards where they land until everyone has completed the round.

Example: A player says “green four” and tosses the card into the basket. A card landing inside earns one successful shot.

Finish: Stop after all cards have been thrown. The player with the most successful shots wins.

Variation: Move the container closer or farther away, use different containers as color targets, or play cooperatively and count the group’s successful shots.

Keep it safe: Never throw cards toward a person, face, pet, window or breakable object. Provide close adult supervision, retrieve cards together after each round and stop anyone from walking across loose cards.

If the cards curve away: Use a closer, wider box and a gentle underarm motion. Do not attach weights or small objects to the cards.

13. Construction Site

Materials and setup: Select one card for each numeral in every color and remove the duplicates. Place each zero face up as the foundation of a red, yellow, green or blue building. Deal five cards to each player and put the rest face down as the supply.

1. Look for the next required numeral on any building.
2. Play that card above its matching color foundation. Each building must rise in numerical order.
3. If you cannot build, draw one card. Play it immediately if it is the next required card; otherwise keep it.
4. Pass when no legal card is available.

Example: The red building currently ends with 3. A red 4 is a legal next level, but a red 5 must wait.

Finish: The group completes the construction site when every color building reaches its highest selected numeral. This version is cooperative.

Variation: Award each legally placed card to its builder as a point, while still working toward the shared finished site.

If construction stalls: Check that every required card was included. As a stated house rule, allow a player to trade one card with another player instead of drawing.

14. Uno Domino

Materials and setup: Use numbered UNO cards. Deal seven cards to each player, place the rest face down as a draw pile and turn one card face up to begin the domino chain.

1. Attach one card to either end of the chain.
2. The new card must match the exposed end by color or numeral.
3. If no card in your hand fits, draw one. Play it if legal; otherwise keep it and pass.
4. Arrange the chain in bends when it approaches the table edge.

Example: One end of the chain is a red 5. A blue 5 can attach because the numerals match; another red card could attach because the colors match.

Finish: The first player to use every card wins. If the draw pile is empty and nobody can play, the player holding the fewest cards wins.

Variation: Allow branches from matching cards in the middle of the chain. Mark this as a house rule before starting so everyone knows which open ends are legal.

If the chain uses too much space: Turn corners while keeping adjacent cards clearly connected. On a small table, play only to one open end.

15. Spoons

Materials and setup: Choose several four-card sets in which every card has the same numeral, with at least one more set than there are players. Deal four cards to each person and keep the remaining cards as the dealer’s stock. Place one large, unbreakable spoon fewer than the number of players within easy reach. House rule for this version: If the dealer needs a card after the stock is empty, shuffle the final player’s discard pile to make a new stock. If both the stock and that discard pile are empty before anyone completes a set, end the stalled round without assigning a miss, then collect, shuffle and redeal for a new round.

1. The dealer draws one card, keeps or rejects it, and passes one card to the left.
2. Each player takes the arriving card, then passes one card left. The final player places the rejected card in a discard pile.
3. Continue until someone holds four cards with the same numeral.
4. That player quietly takes a spoon. Everyone else then takes one.

Example: A player holding three 6 cards receives another 6, passes away the unwanted card and takes a spoon. The other players follow.

Finish: The player left without a spoon records a miss. Reset the cards and spoons after each round; after the agreed number of rounds, the player with the fewest misses wins.

Variation: For calmer play, pass cards in strict turns. A player who completes a set says “Spoons,” and everyone points to a spoon rather than grabbing one.

Keep it safe: Use large wooden or plastic spoons rather than sharp or breakable cutlery. Closely supervise children, space the spoons apart and use the pointing variation if reaching becomes rough.

If passing becomes chaotic: Allow only one card to move between each pair of players at a time. Pause the dealer until every player is ready.

16. Switch-Pose

Materials and setup: Use numbered cards and create an accessible response for each color. For example, red means touch your head, yellow means fold your arms, green means place your hands on your knees and blue means say “blue.” Display the choices on a large sheet of paper and shuffle the cards face down.

1. The caller reveals one card so everyone can see it.
2. Players perform the response assigned to its color.
3. If its numeral matches the previously revealed card, players must freeze instead of making the color response.
4. The last player to make the correct response takes the revealed card as a penalty. Choose a new caller regularly.

Example: A red 5 is followed by a blue 5. Players must freeze because the numeral repeated; making the blue response would be an error.

Finish: Continue until the draw pile is empty. The player with the fewest penalty cards wins.

Variation: Remove speed scoring and count a shared streak of correct responses. You can also replace every movement with a spoken word or visible gesture.

If judging the last response causes disagreement: Use the cooperative variation or let a non-playing caller decide. Select responses that every participant can perform comfortably, and keep all movements in each person’s own space.

Keep the games that suit your family and simplify any rule that causes frustration. A cooperative finish, turn-taking version or smaller card selection can make the same activity work for different ages and abilities.

Store your preferred rules with the deck so everyone can start quickly next time. You can return to classic UNO or choose one of these alternatives whenever family game night needs a change.