DOS Game: Rules, Editions and How It Differs From UNO

What the DOS game is

DOS is a shedding card game. That's a game where the goal is to run out of cards before anyone else. Every DOS listing in our data files it under "shedding," and both Mattel rule sheets open with the same object: be first to get rid of your hand.

The name is Spanish for "two," and the rules lean on it hard. You match against two cards in the middle. You can play two cards at once as a pair that adds up. You call out "DOS" at two cards left. If you've played UNO, the deck will look familiar: four colors, numbered cards, wild cards. But how you match is different, and in the first edition it's very different.

There are two sets of rules, and that matters more for DOS than for most games:

• First edition (Mattel sheet FRM36, dated 2017): a two-card center row, matching by number, two cards that add up to one, color bonuses, scoring to 200.
• Second edition (Mattel sheet HNN01, dated 2022): two discard piles, UNO-style matching by color, number or symbol, action cards, and an optional scoring race to 500.

Both sheets list ages 7+ and 2 to 4 players. Neither is co-op. There are no expansions in our data, just the two editions and a bundle.

Marisol read both sheets side by side and noted that the second edition has four more cards than the first, 112 against 108. She wrote it down. In pen. On a label.

How the first edition plays

The rules below are in my own words, from Mattel's first-edition DOS sheet (FRM36). I don't copy rules text, and I've left out nothing that changes how a turn goes.

The deck and the deal

The first-edition deck is 108 cards: 24 each in blue, green, red and yellow, plus 12 Wild DOS cards. Each color has numbers from 1 to 10 (no 2s, those are the wilds) and two Wild # cards.

1. Everyone draws a card. Highest number deals, and any card with a symbol counts as zero for this draw.
2. The dealer gives each player 7 cards.
3. The dealer lays two cards face up in the middle. That's the Center Row.
4. The deck goes beside the row, with room for a discard pile.

The player to the dealer's left goes first.

A turn: match or draw

On your turn you either match cards in the Center Row or draw. There are two ways to match:

• Single match: play one card with the same number as a Center Row card. Color doesn't matter.
• Double match: play two cards that add up to a Center Row card. A 7 in the row can take a 5 and a 2, a 3 and a 4, or a 6 and a 1, any colors.

You can match each card in the row, but each one only once per turn. If you can't match, or don't want to, you draw one card. If the new card lets you match, go ahead. If you still can't, you put one card from your hand face up into the Center Row. So a bad turn still changes the table.

Here's the part that makes the first edition feel like a math worksheet that fights back. Every turn, the row asks you a sum question. Is there a 7? Who's holding a 3 and a 4? I spend my school week trying to get seventh graders to see that 7 can be built a lot of ways. DOS makes that a strategy instead of a lesson.

Color bonuses

Match the color too, and you get a bonus:

• Single color match: your card matches the number and color of a row card. At the end of your turn, you add one card from your hand to the Center Row.
• Double color match: your two cards add up to a row card and both share its color. Every other player draws one card, and you add one card from your hand to the row at the end of your turn.

Adding a card to the row is a gift to yourself. It's one less card in your hand.

Ending your turn

Take every card you played, plus the row cards you matched, and put them on the discard pile. If fewer than two cards are left in the row, refill it from the deck to two. Then add one card to the row for each color bonus you earned. The row can grow past two cards, and when it does, you can match any or all of them.

The two wild cards

• Wild DOS: counts as a 2 in any color you choose. It's built for double matches, since a 2 fills a lot of sums.
• Wild #: counts as any number from 1 to 10, but only in its own color.

If a wild card is sitting in the Center Row, the player matching against it decides what it counts as.

Calling DOS and scoring

When you have exactly two cards in your hand, you must shout "DOS." If someone else calls it first, you draw two cards as a penalty. If that happens during your turn, those penalty cards wait until your turn ends.

The round ends when a player runs out of cards. That player scores the cards left in the other hands: number cards at face value, 20 for each Wild DOS and 40 for each Wild #. The winner of a round deals the next one. First to 200 points wins the game, so keep a running tally on a scrap of paper.

How the second edition plays

The second-edition sheet (HNN01) says it plainly: DOS now plays like classic UNO, with a few changes. In my words:

1. Deal 7 cards each. The rest is the draw pile.
2. Flip the top two cards into two discard piles. If either one is an action card, flip again until neither shows one.
3. The player to the dealer's left starts, and play goes clockwise.
4. On your turn, play a card that matches the top of either pile by color, number or symbol. You can play on both piles in one turn if you can.
5. You can also add two cards of the same color together to match a pile's number. A red 3 and a red 4 match a 7 of any color.
6. No match? Draw one card, and play it if it fits. You're also allowed to draw instead of playing, even with a playable card.

If you play two action cards in one turn, both hit the next player. A Draw 2 and a Skip together mean draw two and lose your turn.

The second edition's action cards are Draw Two, Skip and Reverse, plus two wilds. The Wild DOS card is still a 2 in any color. The new one is the Wild Play Two: the next player has to play at least two cards on their turn, or draw two and skip. It's the only card in the box that hands the next person homework.

You call "DOS" the moment you're down to two cards or fewer, and getting caught costs two cards. Playing your last card wins the hand. Scoring is optional in this edition: number cards at face value, action cards 20, wilds 50, first to 500 wins. The first edition stops at 200. The newer box is either more patient or expects a longer evening.

DOS editions on Amazon US right now

Our data for this page lists 3 DOS boxes on Amazon US as of October 2026, all from Mattel. The table above shows what each listing states. A dash means the listing left that field out.

Dos Second Edition

The listing names it the Second Edition, so these are the HNN01 rules: two discard piles and the Wild Play Two card. It lists 2 to 6 players, which is wider than the 2 to 4 on Mattel's sheet. It's also the only DOS listing in our data marked colorblind accessible. The listing doesn't say how, so I won't either.

DOS (the original box)

This listing doesn't name an edition, but it does list 108 cards and 2 to 4 players. Mattel's first-edition sheet lists exactly 108 cards and the second-edition sheet lists 112. If the card count on the listing is right, this is the first-edition game with the Center Row rules. That's the one fact I'd check before buying, because the two editions play differently enough to matter.

Uno Bundled with Dos

A bundle with UNO and DOS together. The listing tells us only that it's a shedding card game. It doesn't say which DOS edition is inside, or give a player count or age. It's the pick if you want both decks on the shelf and don't mind finding out which DOS rules you get when the box opens.

Which DOS fits your table

• A family that already plays UNO: the Second Edition, since its sheet says it plays like UNO
• A table that likes adding up cards: the original DOS listing, if its 108 cards mean the first edition
• Players who need colorblind-friendly cards: the Second Edition, the only listing with that flag
• Both games in one purchase: Uno Bundled with Dos
• Five or six players: only the Second Edition listing goes that high, and Mattel's sheet still says 2 to 4

Who should skip DOS

Skip DOS if your youngest player is under 7, the age on both Mattel sheets. The first edition in particular asks a child to find two cards that add up to a third, every turn, under some table pressure. That's great practice for a second grader who likes numbers and a long night for one who doesn't yet.

Skip it if your group wants quiet. The game is built around shouting at two cards, and both editions punish the player who forgets.

And skip it if you want a game where luck stays out of the way. You draw what you draw. The color bonuses and wild cards give you choices, but a hand with nothing that adds up will sit there.

If you like DOS, look at these

Pages chosen by what they share with DOS: a shedding or matching card game, a 2-to-4 table, short hands.

• UNO: the game the second edition builds on
• Phase 10: a family card game with its own editions page here
• Skip-Bo: another numbered-card game for a family table
• Card games: the wider shelf of family card games
• Best family card games: our list, built by age and play time

DOS is a Mattel game, and so is UNO. See the Mattel brand page for the rest of the lineup.

Count to two, then say it out loud.