UNO Flip Attack Card Game: Rules for How to Play

Objective

The objective of UNO Flip Attack is to be the first player to play the last card from your hand.

Set Up

Make sure all of the cards are facing the same direction.
Choose a player to be the dealer. They will shuffle all of the cards making sure all they all stay on the same side.
The dealer deals seven cards to each player. Each player should hold the cards so the Mild Side (white border) faces them and the Wild Side (black border) faces the other players.
Take the top card from the deck and place it in the middle of the table so the Mild Side is face up. If you flipped over an Action card (anything that is not a number card), you will ignore its effect and flip over another card.
Next load all of the cards into the machine. Lift up the lid on the launcher and place the cards so the Mild Side is facing the yellow side of the tray. The yellow side of the tray should be facing the back of the unit. If it isn’t, you should close the lid and open it again so the tray turns.

Showing how to load the card launcher in UNO Flip Attack — One of the players have loaded the cards into the card launcher. The Mild Side of the cards are facing the yellow side of the holder. The yellow side is turned to face the back of the machine.

Turn the switch to the on position.
Then turn the launcher so it faces the player to the left of the dealer. Throughout the game you will turn the launcher towards the player who is taking the current turn. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game. Play moves clockwise/left to start the game.

How to Play UNO Flip Attack

On your turn you will try to play one of the cards from your hand to the Discard Pile. To play a card it has to match the top card on the Discard Pile. It can match in one of three ways:

Color
Number
Symbol

If you have a card that matches at least one of the criteria, you can play it on top of the Discard Pile. If you play an Action card, you will take a special action. See the corresponding action below for more details about what each card does.

Playing a card to match a yellow seven card — The top card on the Discard Pile is a yellow seven. Pictured are some cards that the next player could choose to play on their turn. The yellow five could be played because it matches the color. The red seven could be played because it matches the number. Finally the Wild and Wild Press Your Luck cards could be played because they are wild and thus match all other cards.

Matching a Reverse card — The top card on the Discard Pile is a Reverse card. The next player could choose to play their own Reverse card because it matches the symbol.

To help colorblind players, each card also features a symbol that corresponds to one of the colors for each side.

Circle – Red/Pink
Diamond – Yellow/Orange
Triangle – Green/Teal
Square – Blue/Purple

After you play a card your turn ends. Play passes to the next player in turn order.

Pressing the Button

If you do not have any cards in your hand that you can play, you have to press the button on the card launcher. Should nothing happen, your turn ends and play passes to the next player in turn order.

Sometimes cards will shoot out of the launcher after you press the button. You have to add all of the cards that shoot out of the launcher to your hand. When you add the cards to your hand, make sure that you are holding them so the current side is visible to you. For example if you are currently playing with the Mild Side, make sure you add the cards to your hand so the Mild Side is visible. Your turn then ends.

Picking up launched cards in UNO Flip Attack — Three cards shot out of the card launcher. The player that pressed the button has to add the cards to their hand.

If you have a card in your hand that you can play, you can choose not to play it. Instead you will press the button and take any cards that shoot out.

Should the launcher ever run out of cards, you will shuffle the Discard Pile. You will then place the cards into the slot inside the card launcher. Make sure the Mild Side (white border) of the cards face the yellow side of the slot. Whatever side of the cards you are currently playing should be facing the back of the launcher. If it isn’t, you will close and open the lid again so the cards flip to the other side.

UNO Flip Attack Card Meanings

Numbers

Number cards are on both the Mild and Wild sides of the cards in UNO Flip Attack. Number cards have no special effect on the game. You can only play them if they match the number or color of the top card on the Discard Pile.

Flip

Flip cards are on both the Mild and Wild sides of the cards.

You can only play a Flip card on top of another Flip card or a card that matches its color. When you play a Flip card, the cards will be flipped to the other side. If the cards were on the Mild side, they will be turned to the Wild side. If they were on the Wild side, they will be moved to the Mild side.

First all of the players will flip the cards that they are holding in their hands to the other side.

Next you will flip the Discard Pile over. The card that was previously on the bottom of the Discard Pile will now be on the top of the pile.

Finally you will lift up the lid on the launcher and pull it back. You will wait until the slot inside the launcher turns 180 degrees. You will then close the lid.

Turning the card launcher — As a Flip card was played, one of the players open up the lid on the card launcher until the cards rotate 180 degrees. The players will now play with the other side of the cards.

Players will now have to play cards from the current side.

Mild Side Cards

Discard All

When you play the Discard All card, you get to discard all of the cards from your hand that match the color of the Discard All card. For example you play a blue Discard All card. You will discard all of the blue cards from your hand. You will first play all of the matching color cards and then place the Discard All card on top.

The Discard All card can be played on top of another Discard All card, or a card that matches the color.

Hit 2X

The Hit 2X card forces the next player in turn order to press the button on the launcher twice. Any cards that shoot out of the launcher get added to the hand of the player that presses the button. Whether they had to add any cards to their hand or not, their turn ends. Play passes to the next player in turn order.

You can play a Hit 2X card on top of another Hit 2X card, or a card that matches its color. The rules do not say that you can play a Hit 2X if one is played against you. Therefore you can’t pass the punishment onto the next player.

Reverse

When you play a Reverse card, the direction of play switch. If play was moving clockwise, it will now move counter-clockwise. If play was moving counter-clockwise, it will now move clockwise.

Reverse cards can be played on top of other Reverse cards, or cards that match its color.

Skip

The Skip card forces the next player in turn order to lose their turn.

You can play a Skip card on top of another Skip card, or a card that matches its color. If a Skip card is played against you, you cannot avoid the punishment by playing your own Skip card.

Wild

The Wild card matches every other card in the game. Therefore you can play it at any time. When you play a Wild card, you will choose the color for the Discard Pile. You can choose any of the colors, including the color it was when you played the Wild card.

Wild Press Your Luck

The player that plays the Wild Press Your Luck card gets to continue their turn. They can decide how much they want to press their luck. For each time they press the button on the launcher, they get to discard one of the cards from their hand. When choosing cards to discard, the rules do not say that you have to follow the normal playing rules. You can keep pressing the button as many times as you want. You want to try and stop before any cards are shot out though.

If you stop before any cards are shot out of the launcher, all of the cards you discard are placed on the Discard Pile. You will then place the Wild Press Your Luck card on top of the Discard Pile.

Playing a Wild Press Your Luck card — The current player played a Wild Press Your Luck card. They ended up pressing the button on the card launcher three times without any cards getting shot out. They decided to stop so they get to discard three cards in addition to the Wild Press Your Luck card. The Wild Press Your Luck card goes on top of the Discard Pile and the player that played it gets to choose the color for the Discard Pile.

Should any cards shoot out of the launcher, you will add the cards that shoot out to your hand. You also have to take back any cards you discarded this turn except for the Wild Press Your Luck card. You will play the Wild Press Your Luck card to the top of the Discard Pile.

No matter what happens, the player that plays the Wild Press Your Luck card chooses what color they want to make the Discard Pile.

Wild Side Cards

Hit 5X

When someone plays the Hit 5X card, the next player in turn order must press the button on the card launcher five times. If any cards shoot out, they will have to add the cards to their hand. No matter what happens, play passes to the next player in turn order.

You may play a Hit 5X card on top of another Hit 5X card, or a card that matches its color.

Reverse

The Reverse card changes the direction of play. If play was moving clockwise, it will now move counter-clockwise. If play was moving counter-clockwise, it will now move clockwise.

You can play a Reverse card on top of a Reverse card, or a card that matches its color.

Skip Everyone

When you play a Skip Everyone card, all of the other players are immediately skipped. The player who played the card immediately takes a second turn.

You can play a Skip Everyone card on top of another Skip Everyone card, or a card that matches the color.

Wild All-Out Attack

Play a Wild All-Out Attack card when you want the next player in turn order to draw cards. The next player in turn order becomes the “targeted player”. Starting with them, the players take turns pressing the button on the card launcher. When the launcher shoots out cards, the targeted player is forced to add all of them to their hand.

Play then continues with the targeted player.

Since the Wild All-Out Attack card is wild, it can be played on top of any other card. The player that plays the card also gets to chose the color for the Discard Pile.

Wild Discard All

The Wild Discard All card matches all other cards in the game. Therefore you can play it on top of any other card in the game.

You will choose a color and then discard all of the cards from your hand that match the color you chose. You will place the Wild Discard All card on top of the Discard Pile.

Playing a Wild Discard All card — The current player has played a Wild Discard All card. Since the player had five purple cards in their hand, they chose to discard purple. They will discard all five of their purple cards and then place the Wild Discard All card on top.

After you have discarded the cards, you will choose a color for the Discard Pile. You can pick any of the four colors from the Wild Side.

Calling UNO

Once you play your second to last card (you only have one card left in your hand), you must yell out “UNO”. You will do this to alert the other players that you are close to winning the game.

If you do not call out UNO and another player catches you, they can challenge you. They must challenge you before the next player begins their turn. This version of UNO doesn’t clarify what counts as beginning a turn, but in other versions of UNO it includes starting to play a card or draw a card. In this version I would assume it would apply to pressing the button or playing a card. If they challenge you in time, you will have to press the launcher button twice.

Winning the Game

The players will keep taking turns until someone plays the last card from their hand. The player who plays the last card from their hand wins UNO Flip Attack.

Scoring

If you would like to play multiple hands of UNO Flip Attack, you can choose to keep score.

The player that plays the last card from their hand, wins the round. They will collect the cards left in the other players hands. The rules do not specifically say what happens if the last played card forces the next player to press the button on the card launcher. Based on how most UNO games handle this situation, I would guess the next player would have to press the launcher button the corresponding number of times and take any cards that come out. These cards will be added to the cards that the winner of the round takes.

The winner scores points for each card they collect as follows:

Numbers – Face Value
Hit 2X – 10 points each
Discard All, Flip, Hit 5X, Reverse, Skip – 20 points each
Skip Everyone – 30 points
Wild – 40 points
Wild Discard All – 50 points
Wild All-Out Attack, Wild Press Your Luck – 60 points

You will score the cards based on the side that was being used when the round ended.

Scoring in UNO Flip Attack — The current round has ended. The players were using the Wild side of the cards when the round ended, so the winner scores points from that side of the cards. The winner will score 15 points from the number cards (2 + 5 + 8). They will score 20 points each for the Flip, Hit 5X and the Reverse cards. They will score 30 points for the Skip Everyone card. The Wild Discard All card scores 50 points while the Wild All-Out Attack scores 60 points. The winner scores a total of 215 points.

The winner writes down how many points they scored. If none of the players have scored 500 or more points, you will play another round. The first player to score 500 or more points wins the game.

UNO Flip Attack FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

UNO Flip Attack Components

Mild Side

18 Blue Cards (two each of 1-9)
18 Green Cards (two each of 1-9)
18 Red Cards (two each of 1-9)
18 Yellow Cards (two each of 1-9)
8 Discard All Cards (two of each color)
8 Flip Cards (two of each color)
8 Hit 2X (two of each color)
4 Reverse Cards (one of each color)
4 Skip Cards (one of each color)
4 Wild Cards
4 Wild Press Your Luck Cards

Wild Side

18 Orange Cards (two each of 1-9)
18 Pink Cards (two each of 1-9)
18 Purple Cards (two each of 1-9)
18 Teal Cards (two each of 1-9)
8 Flip Cards (two of each color)
8 Hit 5X Cards (two of each color)
8 Reverse Cards (two of each color)
8 Skip Everyone Cards (two of each color)
4 Wild All-Out Attack Cards
4 Wild Discard All Cards

Year: 2024 | Publisher: Mattel

Genres: Card, Electronic, Family

Ages: 7+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.