Top 14 Card Games To Play With UNO Cards For Adults

UNO deck, with its vibrant colors & simple rules, has been an all-time favorite game for generations. But, what if we told you that this deck of cards could unlock a whole new world of card games? Yup. We’re here to bring surprises, and today we’ll present to you a few exciting card games that could be played with UNO cards! 

• The games:

1. Hearts;
2. Go Fish;
3. Crazy Bridge;
4. Pinochle;
5. Memory;
6. Spoons;
7. Go Boom;
8. Crazy Eights;
9. Rook;
10. Ride The Bus;
11. Tic-Tac-Toe;
12. War;
13. Snap;
14. Old Maid;

• Final Thoughts;

1. Hearts

Players: Best for 4 (could be played by 3 to 7 though).

How to play ‘Hearts’ with UNO cards:

To start playing this extremely famous & classic card game, remove all wild cards from the deck, except one. Deal all cards to all players, and whoever has the wild card, plays it into the middle, and tells the color they’ve picked. The second player must play a card of that color. The next players must play cards following the suit (the color), if possible. The highest-ranking card of color wins the trick, and the winner collects all the cards. Red cards are worth one penalty point (just like heart cards), and the Green 6 is worth 13 penalty points (representing the Queen). When all cards are played, players count their penalty points, and whoever has the least, wins. 

2. Go Fish

Players: 3 to 10.

How to play ‘Go Fish’ with UNO cards:

Even though there are several ways to play Go Fish with UNO, our favorite includes the whole deck, with wild ones removed. Cards are dealt facedown to all players. Your goal is to make the most sets of cards, a.k.a., four cards of the same rank, in different colors. On your turn, you can ask another player of your choice for a card, saying (e.g.) ‘Do you have a ____ of red?’. They may either have it, say ‘Yes’, and give it to you, or say ‘Go Fish’ if they don’t have the card. It goes back and forth until all cards belong to sets, and there are no cards left in players’ hands. The player with the most sets of cards wins Go Fish.

3. Crazy Bridge

Players: 4.

How to play ‘Crazy Bridge’ with UNO cards:

Crazy Bridge is the UNO version of the standard Bridge game. Special cards are removed from the deck, and all cards are dealt to the players. Players must bid on how many tricks they think they can win. The player who made the highest bid becomes the declarer and starts the new trick, by playing a random card from their hand. Other players must play a card in the same color, if possible. The player who played the highest rank of color wins the trick & collects the cards. Once all cards are played, players check their score. Cards are worth their face value, 10 points for each trick if you win as many tricks as you’ve bid, and minus 10 points for each overbid or underbid trick. The player with the highest score wins!

Ps. With all this bidding, it sounds like a Poker card game, doesn’t it?

4. Pinochle

Players: 4.

How to play ‘Pinochle’ with UNO cards:

Although Pinochle can be a good card game for 2, works best for 4 people. This time you’ll use the whole deck of UNO. Each player is dealt 12 cards. Players aim to create melds of cards and score the highest points. Players bid on how many points they think they will score, and whoever bids the highest, starts the new trick by playing a random card. Other players must play cards of the same color and the highest card of the color wins the trick. Players get points for declaring melds too. Melds in UNO are doubles (the same number in 2 different colors), which are worth 5 points, wild pairs (pairs wild & wild draw, worth 20 points), and color runs (the same number in 4 colors, worth 50 points). Once you run out of cards, the highest score wins! 

5. Memory

Players: 2. 

How to play ‘Memory’ with UNO cards: 

The truth with the Memory game is that it’s pretty fun for adults too, and even as a single-player card game! Use the whole deck of cards, and arrange them in a grid, facedown on the table or floor. The standard grid is a 5 x 5 (you could make it larger too). Players take turns to turn over cards, and every time they get 2 matching cards, they collect them, and get another chance. Every time cards are collected, you place other cards from the remaining deck in their place. The game ends when all cards are paired, and whoever has the most pairs, wins. 

6. Spoons

Players: 2 to 13.

How to play ‘Spoons’ with UNO cards:

Here’s the thing: besides the UNO deck, you’ll also need spoons, specifically, one spoon less than the number of people playing. You won’t need the special action cards, so make sure to remove them from the deck. Each player is dealt 4 cards. The first player starts by drawing one card from the remaining deck, checking it, and passing one card (the one they just drew, or another) to the player on their left. Players on their turn must all get and pass one card, aiming to get 4 cards of a kind in their hand. Once a player achieves that, they grab a spoon. All other players must immediately do the same too. The last player to remain without a spoon gets the ‘S’. whoever gets the whole word, ‘Spoon’, is the loser. 

7. Go Boom

Players: 2 to 7;

How to play: 

To play Go Boom, you’ll use one deck of UNO cards, with wild cards removed. One of you becomes the dealer, deals 7 cards to all players, and places the remaining cards in the middle (the draw pile). The first player plays one random card from their hand, and the next player can only play a card if it matches the value or the color of the top card of the discard pile. If you don’t have a matching card to play, you must draw from the draw pile until you get a playable card. The highest-ranking card wins the trick, and the winner leads the new trick. When a trick is won, all cards get removed from the middle of the table, so the new trick can start. Special cards have their effects too. The first player to run out of cards wins.

8. Crazy Eights

Players: 2 to 7.

How to play ‘Crazy Eights’ with UNO cards:

To play the very famous Crazy Eights, you must remove all special cards from the deck. Each player gets 5 cards, facedown, and the remaining deck is placed in the middle of the table, with the top card turned over. Players must play cards that match either the rank or color of the top card of the discard pile. If you don’t have a matching card to play, you can play an 8 as a wild card. Players then should play another 8, or a card with the same color as the 8 played. The first player to run out of cards wins the game! 

Ps. It’s also a great game like UNO!

9. Rook

Players: 4 (usually divided into 2 teams).

How to play ‘Rook’ with UNO cards:

To play this trick-taking card game, all special cards are removed, except one wild card. Cards get shuffled and dealt to all players. Players pair up in two teams and start playing tricks, following suits. The highest rank of a suit wins the tricks, and the team who wins it leads the next trick. Once a team runs out of cards, they count the cards. Cards from 1 to 9 are worth their face value, 0s are worth 10 points, and the wild card (a.k.a. the Rook card) is worth 20 points. The team with the highest score wins. 

10. Ride The Bus

Players: 2 or more.

How to play ‘Ride The Bus’ with UNO cards:

As you all know, Ride The Bus is a drinking game, actually a super cool one! The first round consists of all the players guessing cards, in 4 phases: red or black, higher or lower, in-between or outside, and the suit. Then, you’ll arrange a pyramid of cards, with 5 cards on the bottom and 1 on top. Each player can give out drinks if they have a matching card with the cards in the pyramid. The player who has the most remaining cards rides the bus, meaning, they drink for every special card they own. Since the rules are pretty similar to the standard card game of ‘Ride The Bus’, you may read more about the rules here. 

11. Tic-Tac-Toe

Players: 2.

How to play ‘Tic-Tac-Toe’ with UNO cards:

Fun fact: Tic-Tac-Toe is a great game for 2 people! To start the game, grab a sheet of paper, and draw a 3×3 grid, assigning places for specific cards. For instance, Red 1 should be placed in the right top corner, Red 2 should be placed in the middle, and Red 3, in the bottom left corner (you decide on all cards, for all spaces). After writing all the cards down, you take turns drawing cards from the deck. If you get a card that is mentioned in the grid, you put it in its place. The first player to complete a row of UNO cards either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally wins, just like in standard Tic-Tac-Toe.  

12. War

Players: 2.

How to play ‘War’ with UNO cards:

To play War, which is pretty famous, you must know that only 2 people can play at once. The deck is divided equally to both players (with special cards removed), and you must flip over one card at a time, both going at once. Whoever has the highest value card wins the round, and takes both cards into their stockpile. But, if you flip cards of the same value, you must play a card facedown, and one faceup. Then, turn over the facedown card and compare the cards. The player with the highest-value card takes the whole pile of played cards into their stockpile. 

13. Snap

Players: 2 to 6+.

How to play ‘Snap’ with UNO cards:

Snap (similar to Slapjack) is a card game that actually includes all types of UNO cards. Could work with UNO All Wild too. You’ll divide all cards equally to all players, and hold the decks facedown. Then, taking turns, you’ll place your top cards on the middle pile. Whenever two exact same cards show, one on top of the other, all players compete to slap the pile. The first player to do so gets to take all the cards in the middle pile. Whoever takes all cards at the end of the game (or most of them), wins. Ps. you can slap the pile even after you’ve run out of cards. 

14. Old Maid

Players: 2 to 8.

How to play ‘Old Maid’ with UNO cards:

Besides all, Old Maid is one of the most suitable card games for 3 people. Remove all wild cards from the deck, excluding one. Now, the deck is dealt to all players. On their turn, players must let the player to their left pick a card from their hand, facedown. If at any point two cards form a pair, they can be discarded. The game continues until all cards are discarded, and only one player is left with a wild card. Whoever is that player, loses the game. 

Final Thoughts

We are always up to new experiences, and new versions of games. The games above prove that there are no strict rules in card games. These games are just like different ways to play UNO. It’s important to know that the rules are adapted to be played with these special cards, so some of them may be changed, or removed, compared to the original versions of the games.