Game Mechanics Analysis

UNO!

Most people have heard of Uno. No, I do not mean the number, I mean the card game. It was invented in 1971 by Merle Robbins. He was a barber in the town of Reading, Ohio who decided that he would create his own card game after he got in a dispute with his son about the rules of another card game, Crazy Eights. After saving up enough money, Merle Robbins began to manufacture thousands of decks of his new card game and sell them in his barber shop. The game grew to become so admired by families that Merle sold the rights to the game in 1981.

Today, Uno has sold over 150 million decks and has come out with multiple themed expansions and video game versions. This could all be thanks to the way the game is set up. The game mechanics of Uno have made it a unique and simple card game that can be played by people of all ages.

The rules of Uno are simple. Each player is dealt seven cards face down. The other cards are put in the middle of the players face down as a draw pile. The first card from the top of that pile is picked up and put down facing up and is now the action card. The player to the left of the dealer begins the game. This player must meet the requirement of the card. For example, if the card is a blue three, the player can either put down a blue card or any card with a number three on it. The player can also put down special cards if they match the color of the action card. These cards are skip turn cards, reverse turn cards, draw two cards, draw four cards, and wild cards, which allow the user to switch the color of the action card. The word uno comes into play when a person has only one card in their hand. Once they only have one card, the player must scream, “Uno!”. If they are caught not saying uno before another player has placed a card down, the player with one card must draw two cards. These rules are easy to comprehend and easy to follow, which is part of the reason Uno has had so much success. They provide a big enough challenge that it keeps the game entertaining. It keeps players on the edge of their seats, awaiting to see what the person before them has in store for the next round of gameplay.

Every game ever made has had goals or one goal that must be accomplished. Uno has one goal and that goal is to have no cards in your hand by the end of the game. Achieving a goal gives gamers a thrill. The feeling of victory is a feeling like no other. It sends a sense of happiness, joy, pride, and many other positive feelings throughout our bodies. Not only is the goal of Uno to win the game, it is also about experience. Uno is a game played by multiple people at a time. In a way, Uno forces you to be social and interact with the people who are also playing the game. This is one of the biggest goals that any game designer has. They want the people playing their game to have a great time. If they are not having fun, then something is wrong.

Feedback is basically an action and its reaction. There are two types of feedback. The first is positive feedback. Positive feedback usually tends to speed the game up or put one player ahead of everyone else. The playing cards themselves are positive feedback. Playing a card such as a skip a turn card speeds up the rotation of turns at that time. Negative feedback is the total opposite of positive feedback. Negative feedback tends to make the game longer or to make all players equal. An example of this would be giving a plus two or plus four card to someone who only has one or two cards left. The feedback in Uno really depends on who is playing an who is receiving the cards.

Conflicts and obstacles show up everywhere. You could have obstacles in your games or you could have obstacles in your life. Obstacles are put in place to make a game challenging. If there is no challenge in a game, then the game tends to get boring. The obstacles or conflicts that a player runs across in Uno are the cards. Skip a turn, reverse turn, draw two, and draw four cards are all obstacles that put setbacks in a player’s strategy. In my team and I’s version of Uno, a different obstacle was added compared to a regular game of uno. This card was called the queen pig card. The rules of this card state that it acts like a wild card where the user gets to pick a new color of the action card. The twist is that each player, one at a time in a turnstile basis, must pick up one card until the color of the user’s choosing is found. Nothing brings more excitement to a player than overcoming an obstacle or conflict. For example, after a NASCAR driver wins a race, they usually grab the checkered flag and do a few spinouts in their car. In Uno, one player per game can overcome the obstacles of receiving cards that have a negative outcome on their strategy, but are still able to leave the game a victor. This is what a game developer wants. They want their obstacles to be challenging but not challenging enough where the player or players leave the game because it is too hard. They want to see players victorious and enjoying their game.

Interactivity is also a mechanic that pops up in games. Interactivity means two-way flow, or an influence from one person to another. Uno’s turn based style gaming is the way in which players interact. After one player goes their turn, the turn flows onto the next person and then to the next person and so on. It is also the conversation that players usually have among themselves. Usually, a player will voice their opinion on a move that was made. This is usually followed up by another player’s opinion. Interactivity is what keeps a game intact. If there is no activity coming from within the game, then there is no point.

These mechanics are the building blocks of game. They are the reason that Uno is such a popular game today. Uno’s use of their mechanics make it a great family fun card game. Uno can give gamers a different challenge and an escape from the technological side of the gaming industry. It is great that you can choose what you want to play based on the strategy of other players. The game could last five minutes, or the the game could last fifty minutes, you just don’t know. In the end, being able to scream Uno and lay down the last card you have in your hand is what makes the experience of stress and excitement worth it.