Spicy Uno

On New Year’s Eve this year, my friends and I played one of my favorite games: Spicy Uno (a.k.a. Crazy Uno). It’s the Uno you know and love with some extra rules to make things more fast paced and exciting. The game has many rules, and is one of those games that each group of people plays differently. I usually have to Google the rules each time I play, so I figured it would be good to have the rules I use in one central spot, and be able to share them with others as well.

Rules

All rules are optional. Choose which rules you’d like to use for your game. (Note: This game is best played with at least two decks of Uno cards)

1. Slap: If you have the exact same card that was last played, you may play it at any time, regardless of whose turn it is.
   • If a player slaps his/her own card, it remains that player’s turn.
   • Slaps must be played one card at a time, you cannot play multiple cards at once, even if you are able to slap them.
   • Modification: If you’ve only got one deck of Uno cards, you can modify this rule to allow slapping on a card whose face value matches, regardless of color.
2. If a 7 is played, the player must trade their hand with an opponent of his/her choice.
   • Exception: If a 7 is slapped, the player who slapped has three choices:
     1. Trade his/her hand with an opponent of choice.
     2. Have two opponents trade their hands.
     3. Do nothing.
3. If a 0 is played, players must pass their hand in the direction of play.
4. If a 1 is played, you must pass one card to an opponent of your choice.
5. Nullification: If a reverse is slapped, it nullifies the original reverse thus preserving the direction of play.
6. Dealing: The youngest player deals the first hand. Seven cards to each player dealt one at a time starting with the player to the dealer’s left. The dealer then flips the top card to begin play. This card is the “flipped card”.
   • Optional rule: When dealing, deal the fourth card face up.
7. Player names: Each player must pick their game name (other than their real name) before play begins. During play, all players must refer to all other players by their game name. Failure to do so will result in one penalty card being drawn from the stockpile.
8. Slap out da gate bonus: If the “flipped card” is slapped by any player other than the player whose turn it is, the hand is over. The player who slapped receives the -20 points for going out and all other players add up their hands as usual.
9. Draw four out da gate: If a player legally plays a draw four on the flipped card, that player receives a bonus of -50 at the end of the hand.
   • Exception: If the flipped card is a draw four, there is no bonus awarded, only the “slap out da gate bonus”. (See rule 8)
10. If a player leaves a game for any reason, they receive a DNF (Did Not Finish) for their score and are not allowed to re-enter the game.
11. No substitutions permitted under any circumstances.
12. If a player wishes to join a game in progress, their score begins at one (1) plus the current last place player’s score.
13. If you cannot play when it is your turn you pick one card from the stockpile and either pass or play. (Note: You may choose to pass at any time regardless of whether or not you can play)
    • Modification: Instead of only drawing one card when you cannot play, continue drawing from the stockpile until you can play.
14. The current dealer has the right to move the game to an alternate location before he/she deals.
15. Scoring Card Point Values:
    • Seven (7) = -7
    • Zero (0) = +100
    • Face cards (Skip, Reverse, Draw Two) = +20
    • Numbered Cards (1-6, 8-9) = Face Value (1 = +1, 2 = +2, etc.)
    • Black Cards (Wild and Wild Draw Four) = +50
    • Going Out = -20
    • Draw Four Out Da Gate Bonus = -50 (See rule 9)
16. Game End: Decide when starting what score you would like to go to. 500 is a good starting point. Once a player reaches 500 points, the player who has the lowest score wins the game.

These rules were adapted from Bernie DeKoven’s The Official Crazy Uno Rules.