The history of card games is intricate, as playing card games has been quite a local activity compared to board games (Dummett, 1993). The rules according to which people play with cards differ between cities, regions and countries. UNO is a modern-day example of this phenomenon. The rules differ between households and friend groups, leading to debates, and sometimes confusion, when they mix. Meanwhile, board games like chess, for example, had set rules, no matter where they were being played. The history of card games has also not been as documented as the history of board games, as there are so many different card games compared to board games (Dummett, 1993). Even the slightest change in the rules of one game can create a completely different playing experience, though the fundamentals of the game stay the same.
The earliest card game to have been documented appears in 10th-century Chinese literature (Parlett, 2024). Playing cards first made their way to Europe in the late 14th century, as imported products and possessions of merchants from the East. Remarkably, the structure of a deck of cards has stayed essentially the same since then until now. Playing cards, and the concept of card games, spread throughout Europe afterwards along trading routes. To reduce the production costs of playing cards their design was simplified, and in the 1480s, French printers introduced the design using spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs (Parlett, 2024). To this day, a standard deck of playing cards still consists of these symbols. However, UNO inventor Robbins has strayed from this path, using numbers and colours to symbolise differences in cards. This uniqueness and simplification have contributed to the success of UNO.