Playing according to the rules is a priori on this basis that the progress of a game is made possible. At Uno, it’s a bit different. The game starts not according to the rules, but ” according to the rules defined at the beginning”. At the beginning of what? Of the game, of a turn, of a new disagreement, of a new situation. Based on what? Rules for each player, those they know, practice or impose ” always “.
It doesn’t matter if bad faith or perseverance takes precedence over relaxation. In Uno, succeeding in getting your rules passed before you even start playing is already a bit of a win.
“In general, I find that Uno, more than any other game, reveals the true nature of people. » Gaël is 51 years old, and his words best sum up what the hundred or so testimonies that The world received from Uno players, who don’t agree on anything about the rules except to disagree. And even.
Among them, some resist and try to protect the rules (which ones?), like Karine who “likes to play like before, the old way” (but that’s how ” like before ? »). “It’s a game that brings back too many good memories, I don’t want it to change”explains the Parisian forties who plays this game “for more than twenty years”.
A game, a philosophy: “I’m the one who’s right”
Of ages and countries as varied as a deck of one hundred and eight cards divided into four color families, divided into simple cards – numbered from 0 to 9 – and special cards – allowing five different actions -, the players of Uno seem however, have a very common philosophy: “It’s simple, I’m right. »
From Brussels, Géraldine wishes to be clear on this subject. One day when she was playing with the friends of her companion’s brother, and the latter “wanted to change the rules again”it did not happen. “It was non-negotiable, my boyfriend and I are the kings of the Uno. Today, our rules are the right ones, period. »
And if through these “house rules” made dapper by all these additions of “peppers”of “fun” and of “frustrating”, we do not have the answer to the question of the pronunciation “ouno” – in phonetics [uno] – or “uno” [yno], we also have no certainty about any common core of “official” rules applied. So many popular, unlisted variants exist and emerge over the years.
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