

                          **  UFO in a nutshell  **

THE DECK:

  The deck consists of the following cards:

  1 0-card for each color
  2 of each other number, 0-9, of each color
  -------
  19 number cards of each color

  2 skips per color
  2 reverses per color
  2 draw-2's per color
  -------
  6 word cards per color

  4 wild cards
  4 wild draw-4's
  -------
  8 wild cards total

  Total deck size:  108  (with 4 colors)


THE GAME:

  First, the discard pile is started. This is accomplished by randomly
choosing a card from the deck, rechoosing if a WILD-DRAW-4 is selected.
In this implementation, the card is not actually removed from the deck,
the discard pile is started with a clone of the original card.

  Each player is dealt 7 cards from the deck. At the beginning of the game,
Player #1 starts play. In later rounds, the player to win the last round
gets to make the first play. If the discard pile was started with a reverse,
the starting player still gets to go first, but the play order will be
reversed as though the reverse card were played by a player. If the discard
pile was started with a skip, the starting player is skipped. If the discard
pile is started with a Draw-2, the starting player draws two instead of
taking his/her turn. If the first card in the discard pile was a Wild, then
a color is chosen at random.

  With each play, the player must play a card that matches the discard pile
either in color, number, or word, or play a wild card. A card is played
by "clicking on it" in this case, and it becomes the top card of the discard
pile. Normally a wild card can only be played if the player does not have
a card that is playable by color, but this rule can be configured. Upon
playing a wild card, the player must select a new color for the discard pile.

  Playing a Skip card skips the next players turn. In a two player game,
Reverse cards do the same thing. With three or more players, Reverse cards
simply reverse the direction of the turn sequence (indicated by an arrow
on the screen). Playing a Draw-2 or a Wild-Draw-4 forces the next player to
draw that number of cards instead of taking his/her turn.

  If a player does not have a card to play (or by choice decides to do so
for some other reason), the player will draw a card from the deck. At this
point he/she has the option to play a card (presumably the new one) from
his/her hand. If the player decides not to, or the player still has no valid
plays available, the player can then end his/her turn.

  Play continues until someone runs out of cards. This player has won the
round, and is awarded the total points held in the hands of the other
players, scored using the chart below. The first player to reach 500 points
(or some other target score) is the winner of the game.

Card         Value
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
0 - 9        0 - 9 accordingly
Skip           20
Reverse        20
Draw-2         20
Wild           50
Wild-Draw-4    50



  That's it! Now go play and have fun!!


