One of my favorite games is Uno because of its wide variety of mechanics that make it all kinds of fun! To start off the game, the Uno cards are shuffled and distributed to players, from which certain trick-playing or bluffing about your card stack. Once the game starts, players are dealt random cards. They are tasked with the unpredictability of their card stack and trying to strategize how to beat the other players. During gameplay, players have to determine whether their card is the same color or number as a card in their deck or draw a card from the main pile in a quick manner—the excitement builds because people are trying to get rid of their cards and also scope out people who have fewer cards so they can prevent them from calling “Uno!” and having the chance to truly rid their cards and win the game. Additionally, Uno involves quick color/number matching, which requires all the players’ attention to the card deck, preventing lag or bored players. To keep players on top of their toes even more so, Uno has additional power-up/special cards that benefit the player who draws and can also be used as a form of attack on other players, making people think throughout the whole game and strategize how to play their power-up/special cards, such as +4, wild cards, and more. The culmination of all these different mechanics creates exciting tension among the players and establishes a challenge dynamic for Uno.
