<p>There is no penalty for calling out "Uno!" when you have more than 1 card. There is also no penalty for calling out another player for not saying "Uno!" if the other player isn't down to one card. The penalty is for when you fail to call "Uno!" while playing your second-to-last card. So you cannot intentionally increase your hand size that way; at best you could intentionally get the penalty once, each time you get down to one card.</p>

<p>You can choose to not play a card on your turn, even if you have a playable card, and draw a card instead. Though if the card you draw is playable, the rules seem to imply that you must play that one.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>If the player has no matches or they choose not to play any of their cards even though they might have a match, they must draw a card from the Draw pile. If that card can be played, play it. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>Purposefully doing this isn't really an issue of following rules or not, as I can't even think of how you would write a rule to prevent this (allow a person to choose not to play, yet forbid it depending on the player's motivations behind doing so). Rather, this is a question of fun and sportsmanship. Uno is not a competitive game designed to be a serious strategy game. It's a lighthearted family game. Doing something like you describe, whether "allowed" by the rules or not, would lead to simply not wanting to play with you anymore. Or, it would lead to everyone choosing that exact strategy, and the entire game coming down to the luck of who draws a "swap hands" card.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T19:00:17.947Z
Additionally even if you had to draw 2 cards for calling Uno prematurely, you have the chance to draw another swap card before you pass off your hand, in which case your opponent would just send it right back to you.
Malco
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T21:29:38.717Z
If you have a valid card, can you choose to draw instead of playing a valid card?
Acccumulation
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T21:46:38.577Z
@Acccumulation Yes, you can. I'll add this.
GendoIkari
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-20T02:13:08.820Z
The question was unclear, but I meant to refer to the penalty for mistakenly calling out "Uno!" **against another person** (i.e. when I think they have 1 card left). Is there such a penalty? If not, what prevents players from preemptively calling "Uno!" all the times against others? (Your point about being anti-fun still stands, but I'm curious about any official rules.)
Heisenberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-22T03:21:51.487Z
@Heisenberg There is no penalty for that either from what I can see in the rules.
GendoIkari
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-22T11:50:47.453Z
@Heisenberg If you're asking "what prevents them from calling "Uno!" all the times against others", you should ask yourself "What do they gain from doing something like that?". I don't see why I as a player would constantly call out others.
Manuel Hoffmann
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-22T19:55:40.997Z
@ManuelHoffmann doesn't calling out others constantly allow me to accuse them of having 1 card left before they have a chance to call Uno themselves? If there's a penalty I'd be careful and I only accuse them when I really know that they have 1 card left. But if there's no penalty, I'll be much less careful and accuse them more often.
Heisenberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-22T20:45:00.567Z
@Heisenberg You are correct, and it's one (of many) reasons why Uno is not considered a serious strategy game.
GendoIkari
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-02T06:43:42.677Z
`Uno is not a competitive game` Wait, what?
Michael
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T18:57:47.070Z
2018-03-22T03:21:36.997Z
2018-03-22T03:21:36.997Z
GendoIkari
<p>If I have a "Swap hand" card, can I repeatedly accuse other people of not shouting "Uno!" (when they actually have multiple cards) in order to cause myself to draw the 2-card penalty for incorrectly accusing them, then dump my entire hand to another person?</p>

<p>It seems to follow all the rules, yet I've never seen it being used.</p>

<p>Is it a legal move? Is it a valid strategy to win?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T18:48:57.373Z
Is "Swap hand" from a newer edition or a different version?
GendoIkari
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T18:51:30.057Z
Sounds like a great way to have no one to play with after a bit...
Zeiss Ikon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T18:52:31.090Z
@GendoIkari it's indeed a newer edition, started in 2015 https://twitter.com/realunogame/status/673929833617854465?lang=en
Heisenberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-19T18:53:25.027Z
@GendoIkari it looks like a variant version deck and rules [Swap](http://howdoyouplayit.com/swap-card-game-rules-play-swap/). Unless the OP is talking about [Uno Attack](https://www.unorules.com/uno-attack-rules/) which also has a trade hands card.
Malco
<uno>
Is it a valid strategy to accumulate cards then swap hand?
Heisenberg
# Is it a valid strategy to accumulate cards then swap hand?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-03-19)

If I have a "Swap hand" card, can I repeatedly accuse other people of not shouting "Uno!" (when they actually have multiple cards) in order to cause myself to draw the 2-card penalty for incorrectly accusing them, then dump my entire hand to another person?

It seems to follow all the rules, yet I've never seen it being used.

Is it a legal move? Is it a valid strategy to win?

**Tags:** uno

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Is "Swap hand" from a newer edition or a different version?  
> **username_2**: Sounds like a great way to have no one to play with after a bit...  
> **username_0**: @username_1 it's indeed a newer edition, started in 2015 https://twitter.com/realunogame/status/673929833617854465?lang=en  
> **username_3**: @username_1 it looks like a variant version deck and rules [Swap](http://howdoyouplayit.com/swap-card-game-rules-play-swap/). Unless the OP is talking about [Uno Attack](https://www.unorules.com/uno-attack-rules/) which also has a trade hands card.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-03-19. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

There is no penalty for calling out "Uno!" when you have more than 1 card. There is also no penalty for calling out another player for not saying "Uno!" if the other player isn't down to one card. The penalty is for when you fail to call "Uno!" while playing your second-to-last card. So you cannot intentionally increase your hand size that way; at best you could intentionally get the penalty once, each time you get down to one card.

You can choose to not play a card on your turn, even if you have a playable card, and draw a card instead. Though if the card you draw is playable, the rules seem to imply that you must play that one.

> If the player has no matches or they choose not to play any of their cards even though they might have a match, they must draw a card from the Draw pile. If that card can be played, play it.

Purposefully doing this isn't really an issue of following rules or not, as I can't even think of how you would write a rule to prevent this (allow a person to choose not to play, yet forbid it depending on the player's motivations behind doing so). Rather, this is a question of fun and sportsmanship. Uno is not a competitive game designed to be a serious strategy game. It's a lighthearted family game. Doing something like you describe, whether "allowed" by the rules or not, would lead to simply not wanting to play with you anymore. Or, it would lead to everyone choosing that exact strategy, and the entire game coming down to the luck of who draws a "swap hands" card.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Additionally even if you had to draw 2 cards for calling Uno prematurely, you have the chance to draw another swap card before you pass off your hand, in which case your opponent would just send it right back to you.  
> **username_4**: If you have a valid card, can you choose to draw instead of playing a valid card?  
> **username_1**: @username_4 Yes, you can. I'll add this.  
> **username_0**: The question was unclear, but I meant to refer to the penalty for mistakenly calling out "Uno!" **against another person** (i.e. when I think they have 1 card left). Is there such a penalty? If not, what prevents players from preemptively calling "Uno!" all the times against others? (Your point about being anti-fun still stands, but I'm curious about any official rules.)  
> **username_1**: @username_0 There is no penalty for that either from what I can see in the rules.  
> **username_5**: @username_0 If you're asking "what prevents them from calling "Uno!" all the times against others", you should ask yourself "What do they gain from doing something like that?". I don't see why I as a player would constantly call out others.  
> **username_0**: @ManuelHoffmann doesn't calling out others constantly allow me to accuse them of having 1 card left before they have a chance to call Uno themselves? If there's a penalty I'd be careful and I only accuse them when I really know that they have 1 card left. But if there's no penalty, I'll be much less careful and accuse them more often.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 You are correct, and it's one (of many) reasons why Uno is not considered a serious strategy game.  
> **username_6**: `Uno is not a competitive game` Wait, what?  

---

