Skip to Content

What Happens When You Run Out Of Cards In Uno?

Sharing is caring!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure to learn more.

Whether you are playing the UNO card game with two players or with the entire family, what happened when the cards run out on you or your opponent’s turn? In Uno, situations may arise that make the gameplay stop, and running out of cards is one of those circumstances.

What happens when you run out of cards in UNO? When there is no UNO cards remaining in the deck to draw, the round is ended. If the draw pile ever runs out of cards, then use the discard pile except the top card. 

Before using the discard pile, always shuffle and flip over the cards to replenish the draw pile. 

UNO is a classic family friendly and fast-paced card game that is popular for all ages. Each players take turns to match the cards in their hand with the current card shown on top of the deck either by color or number. 

The objective of the game is to shout UNO when there’s only one card left to announce as the winner. When any of the playersrun out of cards in their hands,the game is over.

However, whenever the draw pile is out of cards during the gameplay, the discard pile leaving the topmost card is shuffled properly and turned back to replenish the pile for the draw to continue. 

In this article, we are going to investigate the possibility of running out of cards on draw deck, and how to properly continue gameplay when no cards are available. What rules are followed when you run out of cards in Uno, answered below are frequently asked questions to resolve this issue.

Is it possible in Uno to run out of cards to draw?

UNO has a 108 card deck and is played by 2 to 10 players. Players play in accordance with official rules and refrain from drawing cards when not having to and so on. 

Even though every UNO cards is doubled, you may wonder how it is still possible to run out of drawing cards in UNO.

The possibilities of running out of cards quickly happens when playing with more than 4 players. With 6 to 10 players, chances are that you run out of draw pile cards within 3 rounds.

This scenario is based on players drawing specific cards that can potentially result in running out of deck cards in the UNO game. 

It is rare to exhaust cards on the deck that quickly, especially when you are playing with less than 5 people. If you have been playing UNO and stopped or end the game due to no longer available cards, you may wonder if you can still continue to play.

Can you still play Uno with run out of cards?

When you run out of cards, you cannot play further as the round ends. However, if the draw pile has no cards to draw, then you can use the discard pile keeping the top card as it is faced up and shuffle the remaining discarded cards to replenish the draw pile.

The left player of the dealer begins the round with a card matching by number or color with the top card on the discarded pile. When the player cannot match suit or color, then player ought to draw a card. 

The player can play the drawn card but the turn is finished whether he plays the deck card or not.

Matching means placing the card with the identical number or color on the top card of the pile where the card is discarded. 

For instance, a two-blue might be placed on two yellow. Likewise, yellow draw two can be placed over blue draw two. 

Any number of the same color can be played with a different number over the earlier number.

Run out of cards in Uno rules

Rules about running out of cards state that the player can continue until each player runs out of cards and this shall end the round. If the draw piles run out of cards, then take the discard pile, leave the topmost card and reshuffle the rest to refresh the draw pile to continue the game.

When a player needs to draw a lot more cards as compared to left in his or her hand, draws the cards remaining and then lose the game the subsequent time a player would get priority. When the player runs out of card, the game cannot proceed further as the round ends resulting in finishing the game.

As you play, the cards from the draw pile can come to an end since players keep taking cards from the draw pile as needed and matching the cards with their color or number. Dispose as per the top card into the discard pile. 

The game does not stop when the cards of the draw pile end. Simply, take the discard pile leaving the top card as it facing up and reshuffle the cards of the discard pile to make a new draw pile. 

Afterwards, game continues in this situation until one player discards all of their cards and is declared winner.

What happens when you run out of cards in Uno

Running Out of Cards in UNO: Conclusion

UNO card game brings laughter and enjoyment to the family game night whether you are indoors, outdoors or even camping. However, it can be frustrating to not have available cards to draw from deck on your turn. 

If you have been ending the game due to this reason, there are ways to solve the issue of running out of cards.

It is possible in UNO to run out of cards and there are two cases. 

When your hand is emptied of cards, the game is finished and you win the round. As a result, it is important to yell “UNO” when you only have one card left. 

If you fail to call out and are caught by opponents, you will need to pick two cards from the draw pile.

Secondly, if the cards run out of the draw pile, it can be replenished by reshuffling the discarded pile leaving the top card on the new draw pile. Continue to play the game until a player no longer has cards left in their hand and the game is over. 

Points in the opposing player’s hands are scored, and then you can start the next round of the game. 

Whether you are running out of cards or two player yell “UNO” at the same time, there are many incident that you face when playing this classic card game. It can be tricky to figure out and solve the issue, so use these tips and techniques to continue to play UNO game until reaching the true winner.

Sharing is caring!