Matthew BaileyThe first of two Uno games we’re going to be looking at in this series is Uno Teams, a brand-new variant released by Mattel. With the basic conceit that you are playing in teams, the first thing to make abundantly clear is that this can only really be played in even-numbered teams. So, you’re going to need 2, 4, 6, or 8 players to actually make the game work.
All players start with seven cards, and the actual concept of the game is very much the same as regular Uno. In fact, of all the Uno variants I’ve played, this one doesn’t really do that much to change anything. As usual, you’re matching colours and numbers, with the usual variety of special cards you can play.
The only new cards are ones that force both players on the opposite team to pick up two cards, and some cards come with a special symbol, which means after you play it, you swap a card—unseen—with your teammate.
The point of the game is that both teammates are trying to shred their decks and get rid of their cards, much like regular Uno. If one player on a team manages to get rid of their last card, you then combine the remaining cards from their teammate’s hand, and the game continues. This is a really nice way of doing it, as it means—unless your teammate is literally down to one card—everyone keeps playing, and no one has to sit out.
I played this quite a bit with adults and children together, and it worked pretty well.
It was actually really fun to play Uno in teams like that. One thing that’s quite unusual—and I’m not overly keen on—is the fact that you’re not supposed to verbally communicate with your partner. But being able to talk about which cards you want, which colours would be great to swap, etc., actually worked really well. We played a game like that, and while it did, of course, make it a damn sight easier, it also made it a bit more fun and strategic, as you could plan what would make the most sense. In reality, I spent a lot of my time trying to work out what cards my teammate most likely still had in their hand to better play colours that way.
One really nice accessibility feature—which I think is brand new for this version of Uno—is the addition of shapes alongside the colours on each of the cards, making the game accessible to colour-blind players. I really like this. It’s a great change, and more games should have this kind of accessibility feature. Top marks for that.
Apart from that, this is a team version of Uno in pretty much the simplest form it could be—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could definitely recreate this with a regular Uno deck if you’ve got a spare one lying around, by adding swap cards to about a quarter of the deck. But it all looks nice, and we had quite a lot of fun with it.
Uno Flex is still probably my favourite Uno variation, but if you’re looking for something that can be played in teams—maybe with the kids, or alternatively with grandparents and aunts and uncles at Christmas or during family gatherings—this could definitely be a reasonably good suggestion (but you can recreate this very close with a regular Uno deck)
*It is good but you could recreate this very closely with a regular Uno deck
