Fortunately, in this game, you can very easily pick right up where you left off. You don't even need to try and remember what you were doing, since the magnifying glass tells you where you need to go next. I know I made a joke condemning this earlier, but that's because I initially thought it was only there because "babby gaim". Turns out this mechanic actually does serve a handy purpose. Go figure! I've known about the natural problem of players forgetting what they were doing last time they played. I've been guilty of that myself a few times. Some games have hint systems to try and remedy this, but you often have to go out of your way for this, and it essentially punishes you for something completely understandable. This game is nice enough to go "Hey, in case you forgot, here's where you need to go next." The only other thing I can think of that even does something like this is the later Pokémon games, which you're already meant to play in short bursts. Never thought UNO of all things would introduce such an innovative mechanic, but here we are!
Anyway, to start this mission, click "Casino".
This bouncer tells us that the casino is on lockdown due to a security breach. I bet a lot of money was stolen from the establishment, which is really ironic if you think about it. He asks Felicia if she has any command cards, but she responds saying "I used to, but I gave them up when I quit the Agency". The plot thickens. I guess this was implied earlier, but it turns out Felicia is a retired spy. Gee, I wonder if this will go anywhere. More specifically, she was a special ops agent for "The UNO Rules Enforcement Agency". Given the name, it sounds like people who'd burst into people homes all FBI style if they caught someone trying to cheat in a game of UNO, as if that's something that needs to be lawfully enforced. Given the premise so far, maybe UNO actually does need rule enforcing in this universe, but it's still really funny to imagine. Fortunately, some of Felicia's old colleagues are inside, and are investigating the crime scene.
No, guess I was wrong. Someone smelling of bananas broke in and stole the casino's reserve of command cards. I'm guessing UNO is also a poker-like game in this universe as well. I mean, makes sense. I remember coming across an UNO rulebook as a kid mentioning a casino-style ruleset for UNO, and that smartphone game I brought up earlier has you bet set amounts of your typical freemium in-game currency to give you incentive to keep playing. The point is, I can very easily see UNO being used for gambling, so I can run with it.
The bouncer says they suspect the culprits are trying to turn UNO into a monopoly, which would be a funny reference if UNO and Monopoly weren't owned by two completely separate companies. Or maybe that was supposed to be the joke. Who's to say, really? The bouncer asks Felicia to come back later when they're done gathering evidence, thinking she'd be of help. Felicia decides to go to the beach to kill some time.
Click "Beach" to continue.
Micheal Clayton here is back, and is asking for vouchers, pretending to be someone named "Gamblin' Gary". Felicia, being a former spy, sees right through his ruse, and doesn't want to deal with this bullsh*t. She tells him that he'd just blow them all anyway. "Gary" gets defensive, saying that he was a successful sea captain before he was a beach bum, which I'm assuming is a reference to a George Clooney movie? I don't consider myself a movie buff, but that sounds more like a reference to "Castaway", which was a Tom Hanks role, not George Clooney. But maybe I'm wrong, and this is referencing something else.
"Gary" then reveals that a woman tricked him, and won a game of UNO with a card he'd never seen before. Felicia says that she's heard this story before, and assumes this to be the work of "Madame Zero". Okay, side tangent here. There's a house rule that I discovered in that smartphone game where playing "0" cards causes everyone to pass thier hand to the next players in the respective turn order. Given her name, wouldn't it be cool if her command card did something like that? As a little nod to this rule? I think so. Anyway, we start a game of UNO with "Gary".
This is our first 1v1 match. Most people already know this, but in 1v1 games, Skips and Reverses have the same effect. So, if you have the right colored cards, you can shed off a good number of cards by chaining them strategically. It's a sure-fire way to salt your opponent, and really satisfying to pull off. Remember that Draw 2s and Wild Draw 4s also cause a turn skip, and the infamous stacking house rule isn't a thing in this game (maybe someone could mod it in. Doubt anyone's going to, but it would be nice), so you can use those with this strategy too.
During the match, "Gary" tells us that the command card Madame Zero used had "Zs" on it instead of numbers. If you ask me, that sounds like a special Wild Card. A lot of themed versions of UNO lazily put new gimmicks on one or two Wild Cards for the sake of adding a new rule, but most of the time, all they do is disrupt the pacing. "Gary" says he found himself asleep, and woke up face first in a bowl of oatmeal.
Click "Casino" to continue.
This fine-looking gentleman has found a badge on the floor, assuming Felicia dropped it. But...
The good news is we have a new character and aquaintence. The bad news is that this game beat me to it on making a clever name centered around the word "uno". Oh well.
Agent UNO is suspicious of the culprits, stating that villains don't just retire and start families. But now, crime rate has increased. A laughing soundbyte played during that bit of dialouge, which sounded like his attempt at a James Bond-esque witty remark. He challenges us to a friendly game of UNO for old times sake, and we oblige.
Okay, the reason I screenshotted this is because the rest of the players are named after Spanish numbers, and that means one of them is named "Agent Dos". This aged really well, and is funny because UNO actually got a sequel game a few years ago, fittingly called "DOS" (which has a cult fanbase, but hasn't really managed to catch on as much as far as I know). Also, if you noticed, Agent Tres isn't here. Felicia brings it up, and at first it's implied that he died, or unfortunately got shot during a mission. I got taken aback for a minute, thinking the game was actually going to pull a move like that. But Agent UNO reassures that he's fine, and Agent Tres actually got promoted to the Solitaire division. Good for him. This is a joke that also aged well, since there's a version of UNO called "UNO Wild Twists". It's just a standard 52-deck of playing cards, but there's also eight additional cards to justify the UNO branding. One's a Wild card acting as the Joker, two are color-specific Wilds (one red, one black), and four are Wilds for each of the suits. So, if you remove these extra cards, you can actually play Solitaire with the deck. Wow, this game sure is doing a lot of unintentional foreshadowing of what UNO would later become in a few years.
Agent UNO asks Felicia if she'll ever return to the agency. She says she'll consider it, but needs to talk it over with her family first. Agent UNO reminds Felicia that she needs to keep that a secret. Given that the world is at stake here, Felicia decides that keeping this knowledge from her family is worth it, and makes a grand return to her position as a secret agent.
I like the design of this badge. The gem in the center has the general shape of a Draw 2, but it's enclosed in a circle surrounded by other gems representing each card color, just like a Wild. I appreciate the little details.
Agent UNO tells Felicia to meet up with a new recruit on her way to HQ, and leaves. But not before making a witty pun.
Click "Beach" to continue.
Plot twist! "Gary" is the new recruit. He tells Felicia that "An elderly woman with a head full of stars" has a package for her. As per the spy trope, he gives a super specific question she has to ask in order to prove her identity.
Felicia welcomes "Gary" to the agency, and takes off.
Click "Casino" to continue.
Immediately afterwards, we're thrown in to another game of UNO. I guess "Gary" was mistaken or something? Or perhaps this is just an innocent bystander, since she claims to know nothing of the sort. The other players mention that the sky will be full of constellations tonight, and the old lady tells Felicia to "look up at the sky and just imagine". A phrase that totally doesn't sound cryptic at all. Felicia notices something glowing inside the woman's purse, but predictably, she dodges any further questioning.
Without having being told her name, the woman seems to already know Felicia, and welcomes her back to the agency. The woman gives her a homing beacon so HQ can find Felicia, and pick her up in the blimp. ...Even though we already had access to the blimp before hand. Maybe it's a different blimp? Like, does everyone in the agency get a free blimp? Or maybe the writers didn't care. Let's go with that.
Felicia brings up the fact that blimps are impractical, and questions why the agency doesn't use something smaller. Preferably something that doesn't have a stigma named "Hindenburg" attached to it. After that, we receive...
...And carry on.
Click "Shoppe" to continue.
I'll pick the white trench coat, since it's what Felicia is seen wearing on the box art, and in the game's icon. I will wear this from here on out unless I'm required to do otherwise.
Click "Mansion" to continue.
Felicia tells her family that she's going to compete in the International UNO League, but wants their approval first. Fortunately, she reassures the family that they get to travel with her, so they oblige. Felicia tells them she needs to fill out "paperwork", and heads off.
A blimp materializes out of thin air. Actually, not really. The blimp has a cloaking device built into it, which solves the whole "impractical" thing she was complaining about earlier. Also, she makes a Star Trek reference.
Right on cue, this guy shows up. Turns out he's the one that people ask to "be beamed up", per se. This is Agent U, who invents and provides the gadgetry for the agency. I'm going to interpret him as a representation for the UNO versions where the gimmick is some sort of plastic device (like UNO Attack, UNO Tippo, or UNO Wild Jackpot), since I think that sounds cool. He gives us a welcome back present: a new command card.
This is the Red Reverse Draw 2. When played, the turn order is reversed, and the next player afterward has to draw two cards. Essentially the same as the Reverse Skip, but with some extra punch. Also, if you're wondering how command cards work, they appear to be shuffled in the deck once we unlock them, but I don't think the AI can ever draw them. Only we can. But I'm willing to bet this isn't the case in the multiplayer mode.
It turns out that Star Trek reference was very literal, as Agent U reveals the blimp has a tractor beam, which pulls Felicia aboard.
Felicia makes yet another pun around a hom*ophone. Though thankfully this one works a lot better. Actually, Agent U was responsible for that one. The joke was obvious, so of course he'd go for it.
Madame Zero is revealed to be Felicia's old nemesis, and has escaped from prison. Agent U sets up a rendezvous point in Paris, and Felicia heads off to put a stop to Madame Zero's tournament. U told her that "an enemy of an enemy" is also in Paris, and has info on her. Thus, leading into the next mission, which we will continue next time.
Okay, things are starting to get interesting. We've got some world building in the form of The UNO Rules Enforcement Agency, and it even has some nice little nods to the card game itself thrown in there for good measure. Which I like. Interested to see where they take this concept.
