This page is the rulebook for the Falsonal UNO Championship. We've kept it as plain as we could — but tournaments need precise wording, and a bit of legalese is unavoidable. Read it before you show up. Most disputes on the night come from people who didn't.
One quick note before we dive in: we use the official Mattel ruleset, full stop. No house rules, no stacking +2 on +4, no jumping in. We know your friend group plays differently. Everyone's friend group does. That's exactly why we need a single shared version for a fair tournament.
1. Equipment and table setup
Each table has four players, one fresh 108-card UNO deck (no special editions, no Wild Customizable cards), and a designated dealer who rotates each round. Cards are shuffled before every game by the dealer, then cut by the player to the dealer's left. The top card flips to start the discard pile.
If the starter card is a Wild — pick a colour. If it's a Draw Two, the first player draws two and skips. Skip starter? First player loses their turn. Reverse starter? Play moves counter-clockwise from the dealer.
2. Starting hand and turn order
Every player is dealt seven cards face down. You may not look at your hand until the dealer says "ready" — yes, we'll be watching. Play begins with the player to the dealer's left and proceeds clockwise unless a Reverse changes it.
3. Playing a card
On your turn, you must do one of the following: play a card matching the top card by colour, number, or symbol; play a Wild card from your hand; or draw exactly one card from the deck. If the drawn card is playable, you may choose to play it immediately or hold it. You may not play more than one card per turn.
You have fifteen seconds to take your turn once the previous player has finished. The referee uses a tabletop timer. If you exceed fifteen seconds, you draw one penalty card and your turn ends. We're not strict about the first warning, but the second time it costs you.
4. Calling "UNO"
When you play your second-to-last card, you must say "UNO" out loud, clearly, before the next player begins their turn. If another player or the table referee catches you not calling it in time, you draw two penalty cards. The call has to be audible to the table — no whispering, no mouthing. We've had arguments. The rule is: if the ref didn't hear it, it didn't happen.
You may not call "UNO" pre-emptively when you still have three or more cards. Doing so costs you one penalty card.
5. Action cards
Skip: the next player loses their turn. Reverse: direction of play flips. In a two-player situation it acts as a Skip. Draw Two: the next player draws two cards and forfeits their turn. Wild: you choose the next colour and play continues. Wild Draw Four: next player draws four cards, loses their turn, and you nominate the colour.
Wild Draw Four has one specific restriction: you may only play it if you have no card in your hand that matches the current colour (numbers and symbols don't count for this restriction — only the colour). If you suspect someone played Wild +4 illegally, you may challenge them before drawing. The challenged player shows their hand to the referee. If the challenge is correct, the player who played the +4 draws the four cards instead. If the challenge is wrong, the challenger draws six cards (the original four plus two for a wrong challenge).
6. Stacking, jumping in, and other house rules
None of these are allowed. You cannot stack a Draw Two on a Draw Two, you cannot stack +2 on +4, you cannot jump in with an identical card out of turn, and you cannot play seven-zero rotation, swap-hands, or any variant. We know. We hear you. The official rules are what they are.
7. Winning a round
The first player to discard all their cards wins the round. The remaining players' hands are scored by the standard UNO point values: number cards count as their face value, action cards (Skip, Reverse, Draw Two) count 20 points each, Wild and Wild Draw Four count 50 points each. The winner of the round receives the total points held by the other three players at the table.
8. Misdeals and disputes
If a card is exposed during dealing, the dealer reshuffles and starts again. If the deck runs out mid-game, shuffle the discard pile (excluding the current top card) and continue. Any rule dispute that the table can't settle in thirty seconds is escalated to the head referee. Their call is final, and we mean final — no Twitter rebuttals later.
9. Conduct
Be nice. That's the whole rule, but here's the formal version: no abusive language, no physical contact, no trash-talking that crosses from playful to mean, and no slowing the game on purpose. The referee may issue warnings; two warnings means you're out of the tournament with no refund (well, your free entry, but you get the point).
10. Final ruling
By registering, you agree that the head referee's decisions are final and binding. If a situation arises that this document doesn't cover, the head referee will make a ruling consistent with the spirit of the official Mattel rules and the principle of fairness.
Reading this page is part of registration. When you tick the box on the sign-up form, you're confirming you've read these rules and you'll play by them. Spare us the "I didn't know" on the day — we did this for a reason.