Dos: The Direct-to-DVD Sequel to Uno

Presentation affects board game UX

I was let down when I tried to learn how to play Dos. I’m a huge fan of Uno, a game that has been with me my whole life. It’s one of the few games that I enjoyed playing as a kid that I still enjoy as an adult. I’m excited to teach my future kids how to play Uno. So when I found Dos, the spiritual successor to Uno, I couldn’t wait to play. And it’s the fact that Dos is positioned so close to Uno that causes the greatest letdown.

Dos is a solid enough game, but its presentation that mirrors Uno so much does more damage to the player experience than it does good.

Visually, nearly everything about Dos calls back to Uno. The font, the styling, the colors. They all say “hey, I’m just like Uno!!!” — and yes, it is shouting. But Dos doesn’t play like Uno. In fact, everything except matching numbers is different in Dos. Which means everything you know about Uno doesn’t apply to Dos. This is typically fine given that these are two separate games. But it’s a problem in this case because the games are presented as if they aren’t that separate.