Little known UNO rule clarification ahead of the Christmas holidays

Christmas is right around the corner and that means a few days stuffed full of food, fun and festivity, all according to a meticulously planned schedule of course.

It is all but inevitable that at some point somebody in your family is going to suggest cracking out the board games, and then, after a long discussion on what to actually play, you'll probably go for something uncomplicated that everyone knows.

That's basically UNO's entire niche, being easy to understand and quick to play while being the sort of thing you can duck out of without much fuss because Wallace and Gromit is on TV in a few minutes.

Luckily, it's also the sort of game which would never, ever cause any sort of resentment or argument because you were about to win and somebody hit you with a Skip Card - definitely not.

The only time the game gets a little bit complicated is confusion on the rules, with UNO themselves often having to remind people how to actually play their game.

Wachiwit / Alamy Stock Photo

While arguing over board game rules is practically a Christmas tradition itself, it's better to avoid the hassle and make sure everyone's on the same page before you start playing.

With that in mind, there's a little known UNO rule which you should make sure everyone at the table knows, especially that one relative who pretends not to know the rules so they can try cheating (stop it, your clueless act is fooling nobody).

UNO themselves have kept hammering home this bit of the rules because so many people are playing their game wrong, and the golden rule they want you to know is that you can't stack cards.

Put simply, if someone hits you with a Draw 2 or Draw 4 card then you have to take your punishment, pick up those cards and skip the rest of your turn.

You can't stack your own card on top of that one and pass the whole burden onto the next player, even if it is really funny to see multiple people stacking cards until the original person who played the annoying card ends up having to pick loads up.

Keitma / Alamy Stock Photo

UNO have been really clear about this but people keep not getting it, so there's every chance this Christmas you'll end up having to correct someone on how to play properly.

Then again, if everyone's fine with playing it the wrong way then what's UNO really going to do about it?

With that crucial rule in mind you should also remember that you don't need to yell 'UNO out' when you play your last card, and that's according to UNO themselves.

Like the 'no stacking cards' rule, it is a popular house rule and it's also really helpful to let everyone else playing know when you're out of cards, so this one gets a pass.

Topics: Christmas, Gaming, Weird

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker