UnoCorns is the relatively new Uno version by Mattel that revolves around a Unicorn theme. This Uno version has a special Action card of its own, the Wild Narwhal Rule card, which could be one of the toughest Uno Action cards out there. Let’s take a look at the UnoCorns rules.
Altogether, there are 112 cards in each deck, similar with most other Uno versions. As usual, the objective is to get rid of all the cards in your hand and score 500 points.
Starting the Game
First, choose dealer by shuffling the deck and have everyone picking a card from it. The one with the highest number will become the dealer. All Action/Symbol cards will count as zero.
Shuffle all the cards again and deal out 7 cards to each player. Each player should not reveal their cards to one another. The remaining cards are placed face down to form the Draw Pile.
Turn over the first card and place it in the center. This will become the Discard Pile. Now, the game begins!
Gameplay
The first to play is the person to the dealer’s left. By default, the direction of play moves in a clockwise direction. Take a look at the topmost card on the Discard pile and try to match it by color/number/symbol. For example, if the topmost card is a Blue 5, then you can match it by placing down a blue card or any card with a number 5, from the cards in your hand. You can also play a Wild card if you have one and simply state what color you want it to represent.
If you don’t have any suitable matching cards to play, then you must draw a card from the Draw pile. If this card is playable, then play it. But you can also decide not to play anything for your turn, in which case, your turn is over, and play moves on the player ahead of you.
Action Cards
The Action/Symbol cards in UnoCorns are similar with other versions of Uno, except for the Wild Narwhal card.
From left to right: Wild Draw 4, Wild card, Skip, Draw 2, and Reverse
Skip – When played, the next player has to miss their turn. This card may only be played on another card of matching color, or another Skip. If turned up at the start of play, the first player misses their turn.
Reverse – When played, the direction of play reverses, from clockwise to anti-clockwise, and vice versa. This card may only be played on another card of matching color, or another Reverse. If turned up at the start of play, the dealer becomes the first player to play, followed by the player to his/her right (not left as is usual).
Draw Two – When played, the next player must draw 2 cards as well as lose their turn. This card may only be played on another card of matching color, or on another Draw 2 card that was played earlier. If turned up at the start of play, the first player draws two cards and misses their turn. If this is the last card played upon going out, the other player must still draw 2 cards.
Wild card – When played, you can designate any color for this card to represent, meaning, this card can be played on any of your turns at any time. Therefore you get to choose whatever color you want, to continue play. If turned up at the start of play, the first player gets to choose what color to start the game.
Wild Draw 4 – When played, the next player must draw 4 cards and miss their turn. You also get to choose the color that continues play, just like a Wild card. However, this card may not be played if you already have a card in your hand that matches the one on the Discard pile. You can still play the Wild Draw 4 card though, but be prepared if the next player decides to challenge you to show your hand to them to prove you don’t have a matching color card.
If proven guilty, you must draw 4 cards. But if innocent, the challenger must draw 6 cards instead! If turned up at the start of play, put it back into the deck, shuffle it, and turn over another card. This is the only Action card that cannot start the game. If this is the last card played upon going out, the other player must still draw 4 cards.
Wild Narwhal Rule card
Wild Narwhal Rule card – This is the unique Action card for UnoCorns and is probably one of the toughest among all the Uno versions! When played, all players in the turn order must respectively draw a card from the Draw pile without looking at it, and place it to their forehead with the face of the card facing outwards for the other players to see (but not themselves). The player who played the Wild Narwhal Rule card must then choose a color to continue play.
Play resumes now. When their turn comes, the other players must EACH correctly guess the color of the card on their forehead while the others judge. If they guess correctly, they can discard their card and then play their turn like normal. Bear in mind, this forehead card does NOT influence the present color in play. This forehead card can simply be placed/discarded at the bottom of the Discard pile if it has been correctly guessed.
If their forehead card happens to be one of the Wild cards (Wild/Wild Draw 4/Wild Narwhal), they can discard it even if they guess the color wrongly. But if they guess wrongly, their turn is over, and play moves on to the next player in turn. Since there are 4 colors in the deck, at worst, someone needs to try 3 times (3 turns) before getting it right!
But what if someone else plays a Narwhal card while others are still trying to guess the right color of an existing forehead card? These unfortunate players will just have to draw a card and put it to one side, while they try to guess the color of the present forehead card. If they guess correctly, they can discard their existing forehead card and then try to get the other forehead card color right in the same turn. If they succeed, they can discard both their forehead cards and then resume their turn as normal.
If turned up at the start of play, treat the Wild Narwhal just like a normal Wild card, and the first player chooses the color to start the game.
Going Out
Don’t forget to announce “Uno!” out loud when about to play your second-to-last card. If you forget to do this, and someone catches you before the next player puts down their card, you must draw 2 cards as a penalty.
The winner of the round is the first player to discard all their cards. If no one has managed to do this by the time the Draw pile is depleted, take the Discard pile, shuffle it, and turn it into a new Draw pile to continue play.
Scoring and Winning
The winner of each round gets points from tallying up all the cards left in their opponent’s hands. The scoring is as follows:
- Numbered cards (0-9) – Face value
- Draw Two/Skip/Reverse – 20 points each
- Wild/Wild Draw Four – 50 points each
- Wild Narwhal Rule – 50 points each
The winner is the first person to score 500 points or more. This rule is flexible though, and you are free to choose a higher or lower number.
An alternative way of scoring is to keep a running tally of all the points left for each player at the end of every round. When someone gets to 500 points, the player with the least points is the winner instead.
