FONTANA Pharmacy, in collaboration with Mattel Inc, has released UNO Jamaica, the classic card game with a Jamaican twist. Available starting November 21, the card game will be sold exclusively at Fontana Pharmacy and fontanapharmacy.com.

UNO Jamaica features images that represent well-known places, people, food, and other parts of Jamaican culture.

Around since 1971, UNO is a popular card game where players take turns matching a card in their hand with the current card shown on top of the deck either by colour or number. Special action cards deliver game-changing moments as they help you defeat your opponents.

Anne Chang, CEO of the popular pharmacy chain, expressed her excitement at being able to put a taste of Jamaica on such a well-loved brand.

“We jumped at the opportunity to put a Jamaican spin on the classic UNO game and couldn’t be prouder of the finished product.”

In response to questions from the Business Observer, Chang said the process started in January of this year “We saw where UNO had been tailored to other countries and approached Mattel about doing a version for Jamaica. We worked closely with them to fine tune the cards to truly reflect jamaica. It was a long process to narrow down the choices- there are so many unique Jamaican things. Inevitably people will say we should have included this or that but we felt confident that the ones chosen reflected the Jamaican culture. We had to be careful to not use anything that was not child friendly- it’s a kids game and also trademarked etc. It was a tedious process to go back and forth to ensure the pictures were just right. We also got exclusive rights for Jamaica and you can see our logo proudly displayed on the back.”

When quizzed about plans to roll out other games with similar Jamaican features, Chang disclosed “we have spoken to them about other games and they are currently assessing their feasibility.”

As it is now, she noted that the feedback has so far been “amazing”.

Fontana Pharmacy, first established in Mandeville in November 1968 by Bobby and Angela Chang, is Jamaica’s only national pharmacy chain. The retailer presently has six locations dispersed throughout the island including two in Kingston, Mandeville, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Savanna-la-Mar as well as a seventh planned for Portmore and an e-commerce website.

Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 countries.