Why Did the "Uno" Card Game Work So Well for Beginners?

Hi Everyone,

At break today for my late evening class, we played Uno.  I saw people who have been up since 6am get energized, smile a lot, and really enjoy it.

I want to "reverse engineer" what went well with playing the card game "Uno" and figure out how to include more of that in my classes:

1.  What theories come into play?  (The "practice" element of PPP, Constructivism, etc.)?

2.  What similar card games, board games, etc. are a lot of fun.  Any systematized study?

3.  Any other ways to make English really fun?  I don't mean to sound so naive and open-ended, I just want to capture "magic moments" that some of you with decades of experience have.

Thanks!

Different possibilities for this one. 

Based on the information given, I would classify it as simply being an authentic activity.