What does shuffle hands mean in UNO?

When playing one of the various forms of UNO you may come across the shuffle hands card, but what does ‘shuffle hands’ mean in UNO?

You may also be wondering how you play the shuffle hands card as well. UNO is a card game that we are well-versed in so we can help you with any potential difficulties with this.

Shuffle Hands does not appear in every version of UNO, if you normally like to play UNO Attack or UNO flash you may not be familiar with this specific card.

But if you have yet to come across this ‘power card’ in other versions of UNO, read on to find out more.

What does shuffle hands mean in UNO?

There has been much debate over what exactly shuffle hands means in UNO, especially to older players of the game who may have got hit with such a card.

So, what is shuffle hands in UNO? Well, UNO themselves have sought to clarify the meaning of the card on Twitter to one such person who was less than familiar with the card.

shuffle hands meaning in uno explained on twitter image

This means that the player of this card takes every card that all players have. They then shuffle them and deal them out evenly like you would at the start of the game.

The rules of the shuffle hands card also state that it is also ‘wild’, which means that whoever plays the card can pick the color that the game resumes with.

How do you play the shuffle hands card?

You play the shuffle hands card in the same way as any other wild card that you come across in the different versions of the game.

So if you or another player has it in their hand, you can play it at any moment regardless of what the last card is on the top of the discard pile.

Once someone plays the shuffle card, play resumes from the left of the player who laid the shuffle hands card down.

Playing a version of UNO that includes the shuffle card is a great way to mix gameplay up. A player on their last card can soon find themselves with a full hand again, and players with lots of cards benefit too!

So whether you play classic UNO, or are more partial to playing with the Spicy UNO rules you should now be well prepared if you come across the shuffle hands card.

Can you finish a game of UNO with the Shuffle Hands card?

If your last remaining card is a shuffle hands card, then treat it like any other wild card. This means that you can end the game with this card, as long as you’ve said UNO beforehand too.

If this does happen, don’t forget to have the other players shuffle hands still however.

Is the Shuffle Hands card in UNO optional?

If you find that you and the other players aren’t getting along with the Shuffle Hands card, then there’s nothing in the rules that state you have to play with them.

Simply remove all of the cards from the game and play as you normally would.