UNO

My first encounter with the game Uno was back in Primary school where the game was religiously played for hours at a time in the weeks that followed the completion of my Common Entrance exam. Those were indeed GOOD times!

Created in 1971 by Merle Robbins, a Hungarian barber, the card decks were developed in Robbins’ kitchen and sold out of his barber shop. As fortune would have it he spent eight thousand dollars ($8,000.00) to create five thousand decks and eventually sold the rights to the game, ten years later, for fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) --- in addition to royalties of ten cents per each copy sold --- to International Games. The game has since been acquired and is now produced by Mattel who has sold over one hundred and fifty-one million copies worldwide!

A standard one hundred and eight card-Uno pack comprises colourful cards --- numbered zero to nine --- and a number of “special” cards which include “Skip”, “Reverse”, “Draw two”, “Draw four” and “Wild” cards. The rules of the game are very simple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno_(card_game)  with the desired end being that you discard all of your cards before your opponent(s). Should you remain with one card in your hand (of course on your way to an almost foolproof victory) you have to shout “Uno!”

Today, even though the card game is thriving with many versions available --- inclusive of Disney Pixar Cars Uno, Spongebob Uno and Disney Princess Uno --- the game has become a much sought after one on popular social networking site Facebook. Of course, one of the two or three versions available on Facebook is not content with simply allowing you to play with people you already know, but gives you the opportunity to be “matched” with three other players from anywhere in the world who share your taste for this classical game. For the game to be hosted in an online environment such as that of Facebook some of the rules have changed. For example, each player has a ten-second window in which they can play a card and when this period elapses with no activity from the player an extra card is added to that player’s “hand”. Also, unlike the Uno Boost version --- also available on Facebook --- players are not allowed to “pile up” Draw twos or Draw fours on other players. 

All in all, Uno makes for an interesting family game when played in its original card-game form. It is a great way to teach younger children numbers and colours in a fun, family environment. On Facebook, it serves as an amazing way to spend what may have started out as a few extra minutes to kill battling randomly selected persons from across the globe to become, at least for that game session, the all time supreme UNO King/Queen.

This video demonstrates how to play uno.