How to play UNO No Mercy The rules, step by step
Deal 7 cards each from the 168-card deck, then take turns matching the top card by color, number or symbol. Draw cards stack on each other, a Draw 10 or Color Roulette can bury a hand in one turn, and anyone who reaches 25 cards is out. The first player to empty their hand, or the last one still in, wins.
What you need
- The deck. 168 cards: the classic 108 plus 60 No Mercy cards. The card guide lists every one.
- Players. 2 to 20. It is best with 3 to 6. With exactly two, Reverse works as a Skip.
- Somewhere to put the draw pile and the discard pile. That is all.
Setup and the first card
- Shuffle and deal 7 cards to each player.
- Turn the next card face up. That is the discard pile. The rest is the draw pile.
- If the first card is a Wild of any kind, put it back and shuffle again, so a game always opens on a colored card.
- If the first card is a colored action card, it takes effect at once: a Skip skips the first player, a Reverse flips the order, a Draw 2 or Draw 4 makes the first player draw and lose their turn, and a Skip Everyone means the dealer plays again.
Your turn
Play one card that matches the top of the discard pile by color, number or symbol. Wild cards can be played on anything.
If you have nothing that matches, draw from the deck until you draw a card you can play, then play it straight away. Your turn is then over.
The cards that change the game
Number cards 1 to 9 just match. Everything else does something to someone.
| Card | What it does |
|---|---|
| Skip | The next player loses their turn. |
| Reverse | Play changes direction. With two players it works as a Skip. |
| Draw 2 and Draw 4 | The next player draws 2 or 4 and loses their turn, unless they stack (below). In No Mercy the Draw 4 is a colored card. |
| Skip Everyone | Every other player is skipped. You play again. |
| Discard All | Every card of that color leaves your hand at once. You choose which one ends up on top, and that card's effect applies. |
| 7 | Swap your whole hand with another player. |
| 0 | Every player passes their hand one seat in the direction of play. |
| Wild | Play it on anything and name the color. |
| Wild Reverse Draw 4 | Name the color, flip the direction, and the player who is now next draws 4. |
| Draw 6 and Draw 10 | Wilds. Name the color, and the next player draws 6 or 10 unless they stack. |
| Color Roulette | The next player names a color, then draws until that color turns up. Wilds drawn on the way do not count. |
Stacking draw cards
When someone plays a Draw card at you, you can answer with a Draw card of your own and pass the whole total on to the next player. On the printed rules, your card must be equal to or higher than the one on top: a Draw 10 can go on a Draw 6, but a Draw 4 cannot go on a Draw 10.
If you cannot stack, you draw the full total. A Draw 10 with a Draw 6 on top is 16 cards.
Calling UNO at one card
When you play your second-to-last card, so you go from 2 cards to 1, call "UNO!" before the next player takes their turn. In Open Mercy the button says MERCY! and the timing is the same.
Forgetting costs cards. In Open Mercy, sitting on one card without calling it gives every opponent a few seconds to catch you, which costs you 10 cards. If nobody catches you in time, playing your last card still wins.
The mercy rule: 25 cards and you're out
This is the rule that gives the game its name. It applies mid-draw: if a Draw 10 takes you from 18 to 25, you are out at 25, not at the end of the draw.
How you win
A round ends in one of two ways:
- Someone plays their last card. They win.
- Everyone else has been eliminated by the mercy rule. The last player standing wins, even with cards in hand.
If you keep score across rounds, the winner collects the cards left in opponents' hands: number cards at face value, action cards 20 points each, Wilds 50 each, plus 250 points for every player eliminated by the mercy rule. Most groups play to 500 or 1000.
A worked example
Four players: Priya, Marcus, Jo and Sam, in that order. The top card is a red 6.
- Priya plays a red Draw 2 at Marcus. The total is 2.
- Marcus has a Draw 6. It is higher, so he stacks it and names blue. The total is now 8, aimed at Jo.
- Jo holds only a Draw 2. It is lower than the Draw 6 on top, so she cannot stack. She draws all 8 and loses her turn.
- Sam plays a blue 7 and swaps hands with Jo, who is now holding 15 cards. Sam is down to 3.
- Jo, now with Sam's old hand, plays a blue 9. Normal play resumes.
Two turns later Sam plays his second-to-last card and calls UNO. Nobody can stop him, and he goes out on his next turn.
Ready to play?
Open Mercy runs these exact rules in your browser, against a bot or with friends. Free, no download, no sign-up.