Few games in history can claim they wield enough power to threaten friendships and family relationships quite like the iconic Uno. Listed as the best-selling card game in history, with over 150 million units sold, the game is a staple in the games cupboard of almost every house.
Since the initial game was released in 1971, it has undergone several changes that have resulted in an estimated 718 different Uno variations. These range from themed games, such as Harry Potter, to games with completely new rules, such as Uno Flip.
Image by andibanane from Pixabay
Video games have also brought the classic card game to life with Uno With Friends, offering thrills similar to those experienced by gamblers who access slots apps to play for real money. The game’s continuous evolution has struck again with another new version that is sure to wreck a few relationships: Show ‘Em No Mercy.
Uno: Show ‘Em No Mercy
Released on November 23, 2023, Uno: Show ‘Em No Mercy brings a new level of action and ruthlessness to the classic game. Offering new ways to bury the competition, the game is packed with new features and rules that make playing a nail-biting experience that you’ll want to do again and again.
Since it is based on the classic game, many elements of the original Uno are present, including playing a card that matches the colour, number, or symbol currently at the top of the discard pile. Popular action cards like Skip, Reverse Direction, and Draw 2 also reappear, adding to the fun.
From here, however, things get a bit wild due to the newly added action cards and rules. These can help you bury the competition and cause you to go from riding high to the bottom of the pack quickly.
New Action Cards
Aside from new action cards, there are also significantly more cards in each Uno: Show ‘Em No Mercy deck. The game comes with 168 cards, which gives you an idea of how many cards you may need for each player.
Skip Everyone
Skip Everyone cards, represented by an almost complete circle with an arrow at one end, allow you to make every other player miss a turn—effectively making it your turn again immediately. Although the traditional Skip cards are still present in the game, these offer a new way to enrage your opponents and can lead to oodles of mischievous fun.
Draw Four Card
Unlike the regular Wild Draw 4 card in Classic Uno, this Draw 4 card doesn’t act as a wild and is colour-coded like the infamous Draw 2 cards we all know and love. This card works as usual, causing the next player to pick up four cards or play a counter-card. However, it no longer allows you to choose your desired colour.
Wild Reverse Draw 4 Card
Aside from regular Draw 4 cards, this iteration of Uno also features Wild Reverse Draw 4 options. These combine the effects of multiple action cards: reverse the direction of play, choose what colour is now in effect, and make your opponent pick up four cards.
Discard All Card
Another neat new card is the Discard All—represented by four cards with an arrow pointing at a discard pile. These cards, which come in one of the game’s four primary colours, let you take all cards of the corresponding colour, place them behind the Discard All card, and play them as a single card. This enables you to eliminate several cards in a single move and significantly boosts your chances of winning.
Wild Draw 6 Card
Replacing the regular Wild Draw 4 card is the new and intimidating Wild Draw 6. This card can be used at any moment to change the colour of play to one of your choices while making your opponent draw six new cards from the pickup pile. At the same time, the player drawing cards loses their turn.
Wild Draw 10 Card
If seeing a Wild Draw 6 card played against you would anger you, then the new Wild Draw 10 card will make you blow your top. This card causes your opponent to skip a turn, allows you to select the play colour moving forward, and forces the next player to pick up 10 new cards.
Colour Roulette Card
Almost as savage as the Wild Draw 10 card is the new Colour Roulette Card. When playing this, the next player must select the colour of play. They must then draw from the pick-up pile until they pick up a card in that colour (wilds don’t count). Once they draw a card of the correct colour, their turn is over, and play continues.
The catch to this card is that, depending on what colour you select, you could draw many cards before finding one of the corresponding colours. Therefore, this card should be played with caution so as not to upset somebody who may have one to play against you later on.
New Rules
Aside from the new action cards, which add unique twists to every round, several new rules also keep things interesting.
Stacking
Stacking relates to what cards you can play on top of a Draw card. Therefore, if an opponent plays a Draw 4 card on you (causing you to pick up four cards), stacking determines how you can counter this attack.
Unlike the classic Uno game, stacking can be done on any Draw card played in Uno: Show’ Em No Mercy. However, you can only play an equal or higher value. If you do so, what you play is added to the original card and moves to the next person.
7’s Swap
Each time you play a 7 card, you must swap your hand of cards with any player you choose. This is non-negotiable. Once you’ve swapped hands, play continues in the direction it was.
0’s Swap
Like with 7’s Swap, 0’s Swap shakes things up by causing all players to pass their hands to the player on their right or left (depending on the direction of play) each time a 0 card is played. Again, this is non-negotiable, and all players must swap their hands.
Mercy
Because of the likelihood of drawing many cards, Uno: Show ‘Em No Mercy comes with a new rule called Mercy. This rule stipulates that if, at any point, you have 25 or more cards in your hand, you are disqualified from the game.
Due to this rule, this new Uno iteration offers two possible ways to win. The first is the classic way: you discard all your cards and claim victory. The second is outlasting all the competition until everyone else has been eliminated due to the Mercy rule.
