Uno Dice: Coverall Version Rules

HOW TO PLAY GAME 3

  • Place all 24 dice in the dice bag. Each player in turn takes one die out of the bag and rolls it. The player who rolls the highest number (any letters rolled do not count) is the first player also called the STARTING PLAYER.
  • All 24 spaces in the dice tray are used for GAME 3.
  • Put all dice back in the bag. The STARTING PLAYER draws one die out of the bag, rolls it and places it face up in any one of the 24 dice spaces in the tray. If the Starting Player's roll is other than a number (0-9), the play as follows:

    WD4 (WILD DRAW 4)- The Starting Player rerolls the die.

    W (WILD)- The player to the left of the Starting Player begins play by rolling four dice (see rule #4), and then calls the colour for the W.

    D2 (DRAW 2)- The Starting Player draws two dice from the bag, rolls them, and keeps them for her next turn. The player to the left of the Starting Player begins play.

    R (REVERSE)- The Starting Player plays first. Play continues to the right.

    S (SKIP)- The player to the left of the Starting Player is "skipped" and play passes to the next player to the left.

  • After the STARTING DIE is placed in the tray, the player to the left of the STARTING PLAYER (unless a special die was rolled- see rule #3) draws four dice out of the bag and rolls them. The player looks at the dice to see if any of these can match the Starting Die already in the tray. The dice can match by either number, colour or letter in any combination.

    EXAMPLES OF MATCHING: You may place a red 5 next to a red R. You may place a green D2 next to a yellow D2. You may place a blue 7 next to a red 7. You may place a green 3 next to a W, if it was previously declared to be green. The W and WD4 have no colour and may be placed next to anything.

    If a match can be made, the player places the die in the tray, face up, directly adjacent to (side-by-side with) the Starting Die. The player scores points according to rule #8 below and her turn ends. (Failure to match is discussed in rule #6.)

  • After a player finishes her turn, the next player takes a turn using the same dice. Thus a player will usually begin her turn with one less die than the previous player. In this way, the first player will have four dice to roll, the second three, the third will have two, and so on. When a player, down to only one die, is able to play it, then the next player starts the pattern over again by drawing four fresh dice from the bag, rolls them and play proceeds from there.
  • At the beginning of a turn, when a player has just been passed the dice from the previous player, the new player must always roll the dice that were passed. After making the roll, the player must then make a play if possible. If not possible, the player loses her turn and returns the dice to the bag. The next player then draws four new dice and rolls them in order to take her turn.
  • SPECIAL LETTER DICE: The rules for these dice are slightly different from GAME 1:

    S (SKIP): When you play an S, the next player is "skipped" and loses her turn. Play continues directly with the player who would normally follow the "skipped" player.

    R (REVERSE): When you play an R, the direction of play immediately reverses and continues in the reversed direction until another R is played.

    D2 (DRAW 2): When you play a D2, you draw two dice out of the bag and keep them- to add to the dice you would normally receive at the beginning of your next turn. The next player is not skipped, but takes the next turn normally, after you draw the two new dice. When your turn comes around, you must still roll all the dice you have.

    W (WILD): You may play a W next to any die in the tray, even if you have another play among your dice. After playing it, you must declare what colour it is. It remains this colour until the end of the game.

    WD4 (WILD DRAW 4): You may play a WD4 next to any die in the dice tray. However, you may not play it if you have another playable die among your dice. After playing it, you must declare what colour it is. It remains this colour until the game ends. By playing a WD4 you get to draw four dice to keep for use in your next turn. The next player is not skipped, but takes the next turn normally, after you draw the four new dice. When your turn comes around, you must still roll all the dice you have.

  • SCORING: In the following description, all numbered faces (0 through 9) score as their numerical value. The R, S and D2 each score as 20 points. The W and WD4 are not scored.

    Scoring is accomplished by making strings of two or more adjacent dice, all of the same colour or kind.

    EXAMPLES: The STARTING DIE is a red 7.

  • THE WINNER: The game ends when the dice tray is full. The winner is the player with the highest total score. You may want to play a set of games, where each player gets to start one game in the set. The winner is the player with the highest total score from adding up all games in the set.
  • PARTITION RULE: The dice tray has a partition in the centre of the tray. Matches cannot be made across this partition. Once one half of the tray is filled, the next die can be placed anywhere in the second half of the tray. This rule makes the game more challenging.
  • TWO-PLAYER RULE: When two players play, the play of an R does not cause a reverse of direction. Instead it causes the other player to "skip" or lose her turn.


  • Author and editor: Kade "Archer" Hansson; e-mail: kade_fh@postoffice.utas.edu.au

    Last updated: Thursday 21st January 1999

    Game devised by International Games Limited. Uno is a registered trademark of International Games Limited. All rights reserved.

    This text was adapted from the official IGL Uno Dice Rules.