Official or house rules? 8 arguments every card table has

Card game house rules hold until somebody finds the rulebook. Here are the eight arguments that flare up most at UNO-like colour-and-number card games: what the maker's official rulebook says, what a street table does instead, and which Masabaşı setting decides.

"Official" means the maker's basic rulebook. One edition of it also suggests a few optional house rules; we flag those separately. The "Street rules" column is how Masabaşı's Street Rules preset plays. Whoever sets up the table can switch each rule on or off.

All eight at a glance

1. Can you stack a +2 on a +2?

Not under the official rules: whoever gets a +2 draws two and loses their turn, with no passing it on. When the game's official account pointed out in 2019 that stacking isn't in the official rules, plenty of players were surprised. Still, the 2008 edition of the rulebook suggests stacking as an optional house rule, with one condition: only the same type stacks, a +2 on a +2 or a +4 on a +4.

At Masabaşı, stacking has three options: off, same type only, mixed. "Same type only" is exactly the house rule the rulebook suggests. In the Classic preset stacking is off; in Street Rules it's mixed, with no ceiling. Whoever can't keep the chain going draws the whole pile, and in that preset loses their turn as well.

2. Can you put a +2 on a +4?

Not under the official rules — not at all. The 2019 reminder was about exactly this move: whoever gets a +4 draws four, and can't throw a +2 on top to make the next player draw six. Even the house rule the rulebook suggests never mixes the two types.

At Masabaşı, mixing types needs stacking set to mixed; then two separate settings come into play: "+4 allowed on a +2" and "+2 allowed on a +4". In Street Rules they're both on.

3. Can you play a +4 whenever you like?

Not under the official rules. A Wild +4 is only legal when you hold no card in the current colour. Holding the same number, or an action card in another colour, doesn't matter: only the colour counts. If the next player smells a bluff, they can challenge and see your hand. Caught bluffing, you draw 4; if the +4 was legal, the challenger draws 6.

At Masabaşı, "+4 legality" is set to the official restriction in the Classic preset and unrestricted in Street Rules. The +4 challenge is a separate setting that only works with the official restriction; it's on in the Hardcore preset. With the restriction on and challenges off, the server blocks an illegal +4. The one exception is a penalty chain: if stacking lets a +4 join it, the restriction isn't checked mid-chain. With challenges on, the server doesn't stop one: bluffing is allowed, and catching it is up to you. The challenge penalties default to 4 and 6 cards, the same as the rulebook.

4. Nothing fits: how many do you draw?

One, under the official rules. If the card you draw can be played, you may play it straight away; if not, your turn ends. Street rules make you draw until something fits, and a hand can balloon in one go.

At Masabaşı, "How you draw" has three options: "Draw one card", "Draw until playable" and "Draw one, turn passes". What happens to the drawn card is down to "Playing the drawn card". In the Classic preset you draw one card, and playing a card that fits is up to you. In Street Rules you draw until something fits, and a card that fits goes down by itself.

5. Can you draw when you could play?

Here the official rules are the relaxed ones: even with a playable card in hand, you can hold it and draw instead. The catch: once you've drawn, you can't play anything else from your hand; the card you drew is the only one you can play, and only if it fits.

Masabaşı is stricter than the official rules here. "Draw by choice" is off by default and no preset turns it on: if a card fits, you play it; if not, you draw. Switch it on and you can draw even when you could play. Don't mix it up with the right to pass, a different setting that lets you pass without drawing at all.

6. 7 and 0: swapping and passing hands

Neither is in the basic rules. The 2008 edition of the rulebook suggests them together as an optional house rule: play a 7 and you swap hands with a player of your choice; play a 0 and everyone passes their hand to the next player in the direction of play.

At Masabaşı they're two separate settings: "Seven swaps hands" and "Zero rotates hands". By default they're both off; in Street Rules they're both on. If your last card is a 7 or a 0, nothing gets swapped or passed: you've simply gone out. When it's fun and when it's chaos is in the 7-0 article.

7. Is jumping in fair game?

Not in the basic rules either; the same edition suggests it as a house rule too. If you hold an exact copy of the top card (same colour, same number or symbol), you can play it without waiting for your turn, and play carries on from you.

The setting for jumping in is "Jump-In": off by default, on in Street Rules. At Masabaşı you can't jump in while a penalty chain is running, while a Colour Lock is active, or when a wild is on top.

8. Can your last card be a wild?

The official rulebook says yes: whoever plays their last card wins the hand, whatever that card is. If the last card is a +2 or a +4, the next player still draws, and those cards count when the points are added up.

Some tables ban going out on a wild anyway. At Masabaşı that's "Can't win on a wild": off by default, off in Street Rules too, and it's on in the Hardcore preset. The ban only covers Wilds and +4s; if your last card is a +2, you can still go out on it.

Settle it before you deal

When you set up a table you pick a preset, then change whatever you like. The Classic preset sits close to the official rules; of these eight, it only departs from them here: the +4 challenge and drawing by choice are off. The Street Rules preset plays them the street way.

Want to send the rules ahead? On the "Rules" screen, under "Sets", "Share your own set" gives you a link to the selected set: whoever opens it sets up a table with the same rules. The argument ends before the first card is dealt.