Family UNO: UNO for Four
Family UNO and the Five UNO Personalities
With a slight deviation from the basic premise of the UNO Personalities Theory, UNO for Four (also known as family UNO, nuclear UNO and quadratic UNO), modifies game dynamics slightly. The chart below explains the differences. Note that the family variants are based on the familial archetypes laid out by Jesper Juul and are not necessarily indicative of the ages or genders of the players in question.
The Rube
Youngest daughter / middle son
The Rube will be cloaked in the personality of the youngest daughter or the middle son. Watch for excess milk intake and/or constant references to phantom odors.
The Bogan
Eldest son / third daughter (of four)
You can spot the Bogan based on the presence of unpredictable muscle tics in the forearms as well as any heightened sensitivity to light. Watch for squinting.
The Whiner
Step-father / estranged son
Juul's familial archetypes for the step-father and estranged son serve as compelling illustrations of the likely behaviors of the Whiner. You'll see an increase in lateral eye movement and a flushing of the face.
The Grifter
Eldest daughter
In his book, Your Competent Child , Juul paints such a damning picture of the eldest daughter that one wonders if he is writing from his heart instead of from the neutral perch of a therapist. Nonetheless, his scathing critique of the archetype serves as a field guide for identifying the Grifter in the game.
The Savant
Polyzygotic triplet
Quiet, confident and empathic, the polyzygotic triplet exhibits the same behavior as a classic UNO savant. As one might expect, this is the desired personality for the reader to adopt in order to secure victory.
Other theories of four-player UNO dynamics exist (Spock, Skousen and Holtzman have all written extensively on the subject), but the Juul's model rings the most true. There are also more esoteric approaches (including a complicated work by Haussman comparing UNO to other card games like bridge and gin rummy), but they have not held up well to peer review. Additional discussions are always active in the forum.
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