Facebook application brings UNO to the screen for more electronic fun

The excitement of a wild draw four may now be experienced online.

In May 2009 Mattel and GameHouse created a version of the popular card game UNO for Facebook. Holding up against its card counterpart, this new Facebook application has 3,360,852 current active players.

The Facebook game works the same way as the card game, except playing cards and winning the game is done through clicks on a computer screen. Players are not playing against a computer, however—this application allows players to compete against real people.

One of the main attractions to this game is the interactions players get to have with people all over the world. A player could end up playing against someone in another state or even in another country.

“I think it’s cool that it is a worldwide game,” said Wright State University student Ted Houston. “I like that you never know where the people you are playing against are going to be from. It is interesting to see the different countries on your screen.”

Players can also choose to play against their friends. If a player has a friend online, they can join a game together.

“My friends and I play UNO, the card game, whenever we’re around each other,” said Wright State University sophomore Lauren Tomlinson. “The Facebook application allows us to play even though we all go to school in different parts of the state. It helps us keep in touch.”

However, not everyone likes the idea of this popular card game being moved to the internet.

“I feel like it loses the competitive aspect,” said Lynn University first-year Janae Poppa-Deis. “My friends and I get very competitive with UNO. We take the draw twos and the wild draw fours to heart. I feel like online you lose that.”