INSTRUCTIONS
PLAYERS 2 to 8.
The object of O’NO 99 is to avoid totaling 99 points or more — the total number of points that would cause you to lose that round of play.

The game consists of 54 special cards and 24 tokens as follows:
Three each 2’s through 9: for a total of 24 cards
Four “Hold” cards
Six “Reverse” cards
Ten “Ten” cards
Four “Minus Ten” cards
Two “Double Play” cards
Four “99” cards
Twenty-four tokens

Hold, Reverse, Minus Ten and Double Play cards are “Special Helper” cards. With one or more of them in hand, a player may be able to avoid hitting the total of 99 points or over (See helper cards play).

THE O’NO 99 CARD: CANNOT BE PLAYED.
If you are dealt — or draw the O’NO 99 card, you must keep it and not play it. This leaves you only three good cards to play.

The O’NO 99 card can make the game harder to play, especially if you have two or more of them in one hand.

In the event that you have only O’NO 99 cards in your hand, when it is your turn to play you automatically lose, you cannot play (See O’NO 99 Option).

SELECTING DEALER.
Players may either mutually agree on a dealer or select a card, Using only numbers 2 through 10. Holder of the highest number becomes the dealer.

THE DEAL.
Dealer shuffles cards and deals each player 4 cards, one at a time, face down, starting to the dealer’s left. Remainder of the cards are placed face down in the center of the playing area, within every player’s reach. This is now the draw pile. In the event that the draw pile is exhausted before the hand ends, the dealer will reshuffle all exposed used cards to form a new draw pile. If players are using the token option for scoring and this is the first round of play, the dealer will give each player 3 tokens (See scoring).

THE PLAY.
Player to the dealer’s left will start by selecting a card from his hand, and playing it face up directly in front of him, calling out the card or number value. The same player then immediately draws another card from the draw pile.

Example: The first player plays a 9, calls it out. . . then immediately draws another card to replace the 9 card before the next person plays, the second player plays a 7, calling out 16. Thus the game continues by adding, subtracting, reversing, holding or playing double until one player eventually hits or exceeds the magic 99 number, ending the round. Note: You should always have four cards remaining in hand after each play (See penalty for failure to draw).

Note: If the draw pile runs out before play ends, reshuffle all played cards to form a new draw pile.

HOW TO PLAY THE HELPER CARDS.
The HOLD card, when played, maintains the point value passed to that player and passes the same point value to the next player. The REVERSE card,when played, holds the point value passed, and “reverses” the same point value and play-back in the opposite direction. Note: When two players are playing, and a reverse card is played, play does not revert back to the player playing the card. In a one-on-one game, the reverse card acts as a hold card (See Hold card play above).

The MINUS TEN card, when played, subtracts ten points from the point value passed to the player and passes the point value—ten points lower—to the next player. It is possible for the point value to be minus ten if a Minus Ten card is played first. In this case the next player adds on to the minus ten going back up toward zero or could play another Minus Ten card making the point value minus twenty. There is no restriction on when you can play the Minus Ten card.

Note: A minus 10 card may be played if the total is 0, then making the total a minus 10.

The DOUBLE PLAY card, when played, keeps the point value passed the same, and causes the next player to make a normal play plus one additional.

Example: Player number one passes 57 points to opponent number two, player two employs a Double Play card, keeping the total at 57 points. Player number three must now double play. Player three’s first play is a 9 card, making the total now 66 points. Then player three draws a card to replace the 9 card and plays again as usual. The Double Play card in most cases is a good helper; However, the player affected may, on his first play, use a Reverse Card, thus reversing the Double Play back. Play could continue between two players reversing, until eventually, one player will ultimately have to play double, or the player affected by the Double Play card, may play a Hold card on the first play, thus holding the Double Play card and passing the double play to the next player. Note: A player affected by the Double Play card may not play another Double Play card on his first play.

SCORING.

The dealer gives each player three tokens before the game begins. Each time a player loses a round, one token is taken away. If all three tokens are lost, a player is allowed to lose one more round. On a fourth loss, that player is completely out and the game continues until only one player is left (See option).

SCORING OPTION.

This is numerical scoring with the lowest score winning. A player is selected to keep score for all players (500 points is a suggested total for the game). Once a player reaches the total or greater, he is out and the play continues until only one player is left.

Example: Player #1 plays a 5 making the point value to player #2, 97 points total. If player #2 doesn’t have a Helper Card, he must play his lowest numbered card, making the point value 99 or greater, then he must draw a card to replace the last card played to end the round. A player may not say I will take the 15 point penalty for not drawing. He must draw. The only exception would be that if the affected player has all O’NO 99 Cards in hand, when it is that player’s turn to play, the hand is automatically over. He does not discard and draw.

Variation: The game can also be played where if one player reaches or exceeds 500 or the designated total, the game is over and the lowest score wins. Note: In the event of a draw, the tied players continue until one wins, having attained the lowest score.

Scoring works as follows:
Number cards count as face value.
Player that reaches 99 points or greater adds 25 points to his score.
Penalty for 99 card in hand — 20 points each.
Hold, Reverse, Minus Ten and Double Play cards — 15 points each.
Player with less than four cards in hand at end of game adds 15 points for each missing card (See penalty).

O’NO 99 CARD OPTION.
You have the option to play the 99 card when your point value ends in 0.
Example: If you are the first player your point value is 0, and you may get rid of ONE 99 card, the point value to the second player remains 0, and he may also do the same; if the point value to a player is 40, that person may play a 99 card and pass the point value of 40 to the next player who could also repeat the action. Only (1) 0’ NO 99 card may be played during a player’s turn.

PENALTY.
Once a card is played, another card must immediately be drawn before the next player begins. Failure to do so will mean a player has one less card in hand. Once that hand is over, the player will be assessed additional points if the point option for scoring is in use.
Example: If a player forgets to draw a card, he then has only 3 cards in hand. If one or two of them are 99 cards, the player may have only one card in hand that is playable.

Please address all correspondence concerning this game to: International Games, Inc., 1551 Plainfield Road, Joliet, Illinois 60435. Other products available from the makers of UNO® are:
Deluxe UNO (R)
UNO (R) Score Pads
Grabitz TM
SKIP-BO (R)