Thrift Treasure: UNO Boomo Card Game

Last week we were disappointed in our thrift treasure find since Hit the Deck was just an UNO clone. This week things are a little different. In the 88-cent bin was another game by the makers of UNO – UNO Boomo. We’ve had decent luck with UNO spinoffs in the past, so this one was certainly worth taking a chance on.

As it turns out, UNO Boomo is a remake of another classic game from the 80’s, O’NO 99. In the original, you played cards to a pile, being careful not to make the total exceed 99. This explosive-themed version associates the number needed (60) to a ticking timer. The rest of the game is pretty much the same.

Each player begins with three Ticking Time Bomb cards in front of them. These will help keep track of rounds lost. The rest of the cards are shuffled into a draw deck and each person is dealt a hand of seven to begin the game.

On a turn a player will discard one card from their hand into the discard pile. This can be a number card, which will increase the value of the pile towards the goal of sixty. It may also be one of the numerous Command Cards. These change up the game in several ways.

There are eleven diverse types of Command Cards, and they do things like forcing the next player to draw additional cards, resetting the timer to zero, thirty or sixty seconds, or even causing it to immediately explode!

A round can end in a few ways. If a player plays a card that takes the total over 60 seconds, the round ends and that person must flip over one of their Ticking Time Bomb cards. If a player manages to play the last card from their hand, all other players must flip over one of their Ticking Time Bomb cards.

When a BOOM card is played, causing it to immediately explode, if the next person doesn’t have a HOLD card in their hand, they must turn over one of their TTB cards. Lastly, if a person plays a Double Play card which requires the next person to play two card, and that person doesn’t have two cards to play, the round ends with that player turning over one Ticking Time Bomb.

Additional rounds are played by anyone who has valid Ticking Time Bombs still available. When you run out of these cards, you are eliminated from the game. The last player left with a Ticking Time Bomb card still face-up is the overall winner of UNO Boomo!

UNO Boomo is currently out of print. You can still find new and used copies on eBay for a wide range of prices. If you can’t find a copy and want a similar game, search out O’NO 99 or 5 Alive!

What UNO variations do you have in your collection?