UNO

It can be a difficult thing to convert a fully physical game into a digital format. Questions like how to keep players' cards hidden from each other on a shared screen or how to handle house rules can stop a great tabletop experience from being a great videogame. While concessions were certainly made with Uno, I think the developers did the best they could with the options available to them. The problem is, the best part about Uno is the banter across the table as you play, and that will never come easy to a virtual adaptation.

Just about everyone I know has played Uno (the physical version) multiple times before, so I'll spare you a rehash of the rules. Instead, I will say that whatever rules you've played Uno by in the past, you can probably recreate that same ruleset in this digital version. That was one of the most delightful surprises for me when trying this game out for the first time. While the official rules of the card game are faithfully implemented in this digital release, almost nobody plays perfectly by those in real life. That's where the house rules come in. Virtual Uno allows you to toggle an excellent selection of the most popular unofficial rules, such as allowing players to stack "draw two" cards instead of drawing or forcing players to draw on their turn until they have something they can play. Unfortunately, the thing that really makes house rules fun to play with in the first place is an actual group of in-person humans.

Sure, you can force me to draw until I have a card I can play, but if I can't laugh with my friends at how absurdly large my hand is getting, it's just going to end up being frustrating. The online mode, what I consider to be the main focus of Uno's digital rendition, is dead quiet in comparison, leaving behind a fairly barebones card game. It's nice that it offers lonely people a chance to play the game too, but I don't believe many people think of Uno as a game they want to play on their own (online/computer players notwithstanding). 

While this virtual interpretation of Uno perfectly emulates the beloved card game down to even unofficial rules, you just can't imitate the hilarity of in-person play that actually makes the game fun. Admittedly, I didn't try the local multiplayer, but it seems it only supports up to two people, and only in a 2v2 match, which simply is not the same. If you really need to satisfy a craving for Uno, but you don't have a group to play with, this is definitely your best option, but I will always recommend playing with real paper and real people instead.

The game is available for Steam here (as of 3/23/23): https://store.steampowered.com/app/470220/UNO/
The game is available for Switch here (as of 3/23/23): https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/uno-switch/
The game is available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S here (as of 3/23/23): https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/uno/bnsdhdk45kbr
The game is available for PS4 and PS5 here (as of 3/23/23): https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0001-CUSA04071_00-UBISOFTUNOFULL00

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