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Gamehelphanabi major revision
Overview
- Hanabi is a cooperative game. Your goal, as a team, is to build a fabulous fireworks show.
- You have to put together fireworks (red, yellow, green, blue and white) by playing each individual colour in series (1 ⇨ 2 ⇨ 3 ⇨ 4 ⇨ 5).
- You cannot see your own cards; you can only see the cards of your teammates.
- You can only communicate with your teammates via clues, playing and discarding cards (see below).
- No other communication is allowed.
| Points | Overall impression |
|---|---|
| 0-5 | horrible, booed by the crowd... |
| 6-10 | mediocre, just a spattering of applause. |
| 11-15 | honourable, but will not be remembered for very long... |
| 16-20 | excellent, crowd pleasing. |
| 21-24 | amazing, will be remembered for a very long time! |
| 25-29 | legendary, everyone left speechless, stars in their eyes! |
| 30 | Divine, the display outshines the stars! |
Setup
| # Players | 2-3 | 4-5 |
|---|---|---|
| # Cards | 5 | 4 |
clue tokens clue tokens
Game play
Players take turns to either:
- Give a clue
- Play a card, or
- Discard a card
Clue
Possible with at least clue tokens available:
- All cards of a colour, or
- All cards of a number, or
- No cards of a colour, e.g. "Player1 to Player2: you have no red card" or
- No cards of a number e.g. "Player1 to Player2: you have no 5"
- The active player selects a card in another player's hand.
- The active player selects a clue option.
- clue tokens is moved from 'available' to 'used'.
Play
- The active player selects a card in their hand.
- The active player selects the 'Play selected card' button.
- If the played card fits in any of the sequences, it is placed in the appropriate colour stack on the table.
- If the played card does not fit, it is placed in the discard pile and the team gets a misfire token.
- A replacement card is drawn.
Discard
Possible with fewer than clue tokens available:
- The active player selects a card in their hand.
- The active player selects the 'Discard selected card' button.
- The discarded card is placed in the discard pile.
- clue tokens is moved from 'used' to 'available'.
- A replacement card is drawn.
Game end
The game can end in several ways:
- All cards have been drawn from the deck. After this happens, each player has one more turn. The game ends with the score after the last turn.
- Your team played all possible cards. In this case, the game ends immediately.
- Your team made three mistakes that caused misfires. In this case, all players lose the game and receive -10 ELO points.
- Your team concedes the game. All players receive -10 ELO points.
- A player quits the game. Only the player that quit first receives -10 ELO points. All other players' ELO is unchanged.
Conventions
- There are not enough clue tokens to clue both colour and number of every played card, so the team must agree on a set of clue, play and discard interpretations, known as a convention.
- Many players use different conventions and if teammates have very different clue interpretations, the game becomes unsuccessful.
- Read about some of the most common conventions in this forum post by Romain672.
Note: the BGA list of conventions does not cover all conventions, so please respect the convention the table creator wants to play. This is why there is an option to display the convention for the table.
Standard convention
Players assume:
- Every marked card will be playable at some point.
- The oldest, unmarked (chop) card is safe to discard.
- Cards known to be trash are discarded in priority e.g. cards marked blue when the blue stack is completed.
Play clue
- A clue that does not mark a (unique) chop card¹.
- Focus is the newest card.
Priority:
- Lead to plays in other hands.
- Lower rank.
Save clue
- A (number) clue that marks a (unique) chop card¹.
- Focus is the chop card.
¹Exception: 2 player game with 2+ consecutive saves.
Fix clue
- A follow-up clue on the same hand as an initial play clue.
- Required to change the focus (and prevent a misfire).
Fix clue example 1
2 5 5 5 5
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
4
Bob 🡲
4
5
3
3
Cathy 🡲
- Cathy's 3 must play next.
- The focus of a 3 clue on its own will be 3 and the focus of a red clue will be 5.
- Alice to Cathy: these 2 cards are red .
2 5 5 5 5
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
4
Bob 🡲
4
5
3
3
Cathy 🡲
- Bob to Cathy: these 2 cards are 3s - this fix clue changes the focus from 5 to 3 (now visible).
2 5 5 5 5
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
4
Bob 🡲
3
3
4
5
3
3
Cathy 🡲
Fix clue example 2
1
Alice 🡲
5
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
4
4
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Avalanche of colors option is on, so multicolour cards are marked by any colour clue.
- Cathy's 2 should play before it is discarded.
- The focus of a 2 clue on its own will be 2 and the focus of a yellow clue will also be 2.
- Alice to Cathy: these 2 cards are yellow .
1
Alice 🡲
5
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
4
4
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Bob to Cathy: these 2 cards are 2s - this fix clue changes the focus from the left 2 to the other 2.
1
Alice 🡲
5
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
2
2
4
4
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Note: if a multicolour card is the intended target of a play clue, the clearest clue would be a colour that does not splash any other card.
Bad clue
- Mark 0 new cards.
- Tell a lie e.g. a clue that marks 2 as playable without the required 1.
- Mark unknown trash or duplicate cards e.g. mark s in another hand when your hand could have a copy of that .
Sometimes, a "bad" clue cannot be avoided e.g. a colour clue from a flamboyant must be used and marks 0 new cards.
Standard convention: Play clue
1 5 1 3 4
Alice 🡲
5
2
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
4
1
4
3
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Bob: these 2 cards are red .
1 5 1 3 4
Alice 🡲
5
2
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
4
1
4
3
Cathy 🡲
- Bob now knows his newest card is the next playable in the sequence (2), and the other marked card is 3, 4 or 5 (because every marked card will be playable at some point).
Standard convention: Prompt
2 5 1 3 4
Alice 🡲
5
5
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
2
4
1
4
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Cathy: this card is red .
2 5 1 3 4
Alice 🡲
5
5
4
3
5
Bob 🡲
2
4
1
4
Cathy 🡲
- Cathy now knows her marked card is the next playable in the sequence ⇨ 4, because 3 is already marked.
- Bob now knows his marked red card is 3 and he must play it now.
Finesse convention
Players assume:
- Standard convention
- Play clues may also include the newest, unmarked cards in every hand.
Finesse example
Alice 🡲
1
5
3
1
Bob 🡲
5
2
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Cathy: this card is blue .
Alice 🡲
1
5
3
1
Bob 🡲
5
2
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Cathy now knows her marked card 2 is playable.
- Bob knows that Cathy will bomb her 2 as 1 unless a 1 is played first.
- Bob does not see the connecting 1, so assumes he has to play it now.
- Bob does not have a marked card that could be 1, so Bob blind plays his newest unmarked card.
- 1 successfully plays.
Reversed finesse example
Alice 🡲
5
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
1
5
3
1
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Bob: this card is blue .
Alice 🡲
5
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
1
5
3
1
Cathy 🡲
- Bob now knows his marked 2 is playable.
- Bob sees the newest, unmarked card in Cathy's hand is of the same colour and playable now. Bob assumes it is a finesse with the players in reversed order and his blue card is 2.
Bluff example
Alice 🡲
1
5
3
1
Bob 🡲
5
2
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Cathy: this card is blue .
Alice 🡲
1
5
3
1
Bob 🡲
5
2
2
2
Cathy 🡲
- Cathy now knows her marked card 2 is playable.
- Bob does not see the connecting 1, so assumes he has to play it now.
- Bob does not have a marked card that could be 1, so Bob blind plays his newest unmarked card.
- 1 successfully plays and the bluff is revealed.
- Before Bob played, Cathy thought her marked card was 1.
- After Bob plays, Cathy knows her marked card is another valuable blue card.
All conventions interpret Cathy's card as a valuable, not-yet-playable blue card.
Some interpretations are more stringent, also must be a 1-away-from-playable 2.Marked card discard
If a non-trash marked card is discarded it means:
- A copy of that card is already marked in someone else's hand (sarcastic discard); or
- A copy of that card must be marked in a future save clue (use with caution); or
- An unmarked copy of that card is playable (gentleman's discard)
Definitions
Basic
Convention: Agreed set of clue, play and discard interpretations. e.g. a number clue that marks the chop card should be interpreted as a unique card save (if there is a unique card of that number).
Strategy: Plan to achieve the highest score. e.g. to mark first copies of cards.
Marked: A card touched by a clue.
Focus: The target card of a clue.
Play clue: Clue that marks a focused card to play.
Playable: A card that can be marked by a play clue.
Trash: A card that can never be played successfully.
Bomb: A play that causes a misfire.
Draw: The newest card in a hand.
Chop: The oldest, unmarked card in a hand.
Unique: The last remaining card of its rank and colour (that can be played successfully at some point).
Save: A (number) clue that marks a chop card to prevent discard.
Prompt: A play clue that causes connecting marked card(s) to play.
Intermediate
Good Touch Principle: All marked cards will eventually be played.
Splash: Additional new colour or rank information of cards that are not the focus.
Locked: A hand with all cards marked without any plays.
Reclue: A repeated clue that causes marked card(s) to play.
Fix clue: Follow-up clue required to change the focus of a play clue (and prevent a misfire).
Discard clue: Clue that marks trash card(s) to be discarded (to prevent a misfire or unwanted discard).
Stall clue: A clue given to avoid discarding.
Finesse: A play clue that causes connecting unmarked card(s) to play.
Bluff: A play clue that causes a non-connecting unmarked card to play immediately.
Bluff seat: The player directly before the player who is bluffed.
Bottom-decked: When the remaining copy of a playable card is too near the bottom of the deck to achieve a perfect score.
Early save: A save clue with a known playable card in the same hand, or does not mark the chop card¹. i.e. a play clue.
Double save: Two consecutive saves in the same hand.
Double discard: Two consecutive players discard copies of the same chop card, resulting in a unique discard. A special problem, since, to each of the consecutive players, a number clue that marks their chop card does not look like a save clue (and therefore looks like a play clue).
Sarcastic discard: Discard of a duplicate marked copy of a card in another hand.
Skip / steal: When a player gives a clue that could have been given by one of the skipped players.
Scream discard: An unexpected discard to save a unique card in another hand.
Advanced
Long finesse: A finesse of three or more cards lasting more than one complete round.
Layered finesse: A finesse with unrelated playable card(s) in front of the target card(s).
Scream play: An unexpected chop play to save a unique card in another hand.
Clued misplay: A play clue that causes a misfire to prevent a unique discard in the same hand.
Positional misplay: An unexpected play that marks the same slot position in another hand to play immediately.
Gentleman's discard: Discard of a playable card to play an unmarked copy in another hand.
Play refusal: Instead of playing, a player clues or discards their chop.
Hesitation play: After a play refusal of a playable card, another player may be able to blind play an unmarked card.
Generation discard: An unexpected discard to gain clue tokens.
Options
Colors
Normal: 5 colors
| Red (r) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow (y) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
| Green (g) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
| Blue (b) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
| White (w) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
Tricky: 6th color (10 cards)
- These cards are marked by a separate multicolour clue.
| Multicolour (m) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
|---|
Difficult: 6th color (5 cards)
- These cards are marked by a separate multicolour clue.
| Multicolour (m) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|
Avalanche of Colors: Multicolor (10 multicolor)
- These cards are marked by any colour clue.
| Multicolour (m) | 111 | 22 | 33 | 44 | 5 |
|---|
Black Powder
- Clues cannot be given for the colour black.
- Black cards must be played in reverse order 5 ⇨ 4 ⇨ 3 ⇨ 2 ⇨ 1.
| Black Powder (p/k) | 555 | 44 | 33 | 22 | 1 |
|---|
5 flamboyants
After playing the last card of a colour, randomly draw a bonus card and apply its effect:
- Gain clue tokens
- Gain clue tokens and recover a life.
- Give a colour clue.
- Give a number clue.
- Shuffle a discarded card into the deck (optional).
- Play a discarded card (optional).
Convention used
| Name | Summary | References |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | BGA convention without blind-plays. | Standard convention below |
| Finesse | BGA convention with blind-plays. | Finesse convention below |
| Hat-guessing | Clues relate to slot position, not the cards marked. | H-Group |
| Logical Leftism | No convention, just logic. | hanabi logic |
| Closest Friend | Clue interpretation depends on which player gave the clue. | H-Group |
| Secret convention | Each player randomly selects a secret restriction. | Secret variant |
| Conventional Leftism | Same as Standard. | hanabi logic |
| Chop-focus | The focus of a clue that marks a chop card is always the chop card. | H-Group |
Preset deck
Preset decks are useful for comparing teams/conventions using the same deck:
- No (cards are shuffled)
- Preset deck #1 of the day
- Preset deck #2 of the day
- Preset deck #3 of the day
- Preset deck #4 of the day
- Preset deck #5 of the day
Preset decks are changed at 0:00 (?) UTC
Unofficial variant
| # Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # Cards | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
ELO rating
- Hanabot's ELO is generated from:
- Final score¹
- Average team ELO
- Colour option²
- ELO change is calculated as if tied with Hanabot³.
Hanabots' ELO ratings were set by an experienced player - i.e. ratings are not random or simply proportional to score or players' ELO.
¹Hanabot's ELO = 1000 with scores < 18 (5 colours) and < 21 (6 colours).
²+5 card multicolor option is unrated (too dependent on draw to reflect skill).
³ELO change with a perfect score is calculated as if Hanabot lost.
Cheating
- Players can cheat at Hanabi by sharing information via the chat user interface. This is why ranking has been disabled for this game.
Tips_hanabi major revision
Refer to Game Help Definitions
Thinking
- Check visible cards, including played and discarded to determine the focus and the meaning of a clue.
- e.g. you are given a clue. You see 2 was played and the second 2 is in another hand. Therefore the clue means " s which are not red".
- e.g. you are given a clue that marks only your chop. You see no s have been discarded and no s on the chop of the players next to you. Therefore the clue means "this is playable".
Cluing
- Don't mark trash cards
- Save unique cards as the first priority.
- Look ahead for unique cards on chop. Sometimes more than one player must help to save consecutive unique cards.
- With few clue tokens, work out which players need them.
- Consider how the receiver can interpret your clue.
Discarding
- Trust your teammates to manage your cards.
- When there is nothing urgent to clue, don't be afraid to discard! Discarding is often the best move for the team.
Playing
- When multiple cards are marked, determine the focused card. Each clue only has one focused card.
- Logically playable cards are marked at the earliest opportunity, so the leftmost card is assumed to be the focus of play clues (where no other cards are known to be playable).
Triggering the final round
- Sometimes a specific player should draw the last card to maximise the score.
- Giving empty clues (e.g. "you have no red card") can help to manage which player draws last card.
Last card example
5 5 3 4 5
5
Alice 🡲
3
1
1
3
Bob 🡲
4
5
2
1
4
5
Cathy 🡲
- Alice and Bob both give empty clues e.g. "to Cathy: you have no white card".
- Cathy plays 4 and draws the last card.
- Alice plays 5.
- Bob discards.
- Cathy plays 5.
Worked example: first moves
1
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
- Alice can clue to Bob, but that will mark a second, trash 1, so it's not the best option.
1. Alice to Cathy: this card is blue
1
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
2. Bob to Alice: these 2 cards are s
1
1
1
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
3. Cathy plays 1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
4. Alice plays 1
1 1
1
4
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
5. Bob to Cathy: these 3 cards are red
1 1
1
4
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
6. Cathy plays 1
1 1 1
1
4
1
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
7. Alice plays 1
1 1 1 1
3
4
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
3
1
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
8. Bob discards 1
1 1 1 1
3
4
2
2
Alice 🡲
2
1
1
3
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
9. Cathy to Bob: these 2 cards are s
1 1 1 1
3
4
2
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
1
1
3
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
10. Alice discards 2
1 1 1 1
4
3
4
2
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
1
1
3
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
11. Bob plays 1
1 1 1 1 1
4
3
4
2
Alice 🡲
1
5
2
1
3
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
12. Cathy to Alice: this card is a
1 1 1 1 1
2
4
3
4
2
Alice 🡲
1
5
2
1
3
Bob 🡲
5
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
clue tokens
Skip / steal
- When a player gives a clue that could have been given by one of the skipped players, it means the skipped players have a better move than to give the clue that was used to skip.
- Skipping gives other players tempo to play, discard or clue more cards.
- Nice-to-have (non-unique) cards are kept in the game for longer.
- Skipping should be avoided unless there is a good reason.
A bad skip / steal
3 3 3 3
2
1
1
3
Alice 🡲
1
5
5
4
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
- Alice skips Bob to clue Cathy red to play 1.
3 3 3 3
2
1
1
3
Alice 🡲
1
5
5
4
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
- If Alice discarded instead, Bob would have clued Alice red to finesse 1 and 2.
Good reasons for skipping players:
- To cause the discard of a playable card so that a copy can be marked with good touch.
- Most or all of the skipped player(s) cards are trash.
- Avoid double discards by ensuring one player must play or save.
- The clue-giver is locked (i.e. all cards are marked without any immediate plays).
- The skipped player(s) may give a bad clue e.g. mark s when they already have a marked copy of a .
- The skipped player(s) may not give a good clue because they think it might be a bad clue e.g. let a be discarded when they already have s marked.
- The skipped player(s) need to give a fix clue.
A good skip example 1
1 1 1 1 1
Alice 🡲
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
2
1
2
1
Cathy 🡲
- Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a blue clue so that a duplicate 2 is not marked.
A good skip example 2
1 1 1 1 1
Alice 🡲
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
4
2
1
2
Cathy 🡲
- Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a blue clue because Bob has let let 2 reach chop and does not want to mark it because he might hold a copy.
Alternative skip interpretation
A more stringent interpretation of skipping in finesse convention is that the skipped player(s) cannot discard.
- i.e. Alice can clue Cathy only if Bob has a play or should give another clue.
- If a skipped player has no marked playable cards and no good clue to give, it means blind play their newest, unmarked card.
- A clue-giver who causes unmarked play(s) purely from a skip is responsible for any misinterpretation.
Example 1: lie
* Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a clue.
2
Alice 🡲
1
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
3
2
3
2
4
Cathy 🡲
- Bob has no clue to give and no known play, so he blind plays his newest unmarked card.
- In this convention, 1 does not connect to , so Cathy interprets as a bluff and her is not playable.
- This is a lie because 3 is playable.
- Instead, Alice should have discarded and allowed Bob to clue Cathy so that she knows her 3 is playable.
Example 2: bluff
* Alice to Cathy: this card is red .
1 1 1
Alice 🡲
1
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
4
3
3
2
Cathy 🡲
- Cathy now knows her marked card 3 is playable.
- Bob does not see the connecting 2, so assumes he has to play it now.
- Bob does not have a marked card that could be 2, so Bob blind plays his newest unmarked card.
- 1 successfully plays and the bluff is revealed.
- Before Bob played, Cathy thought her marked card was 2.
- After Bob plays, Cathy knows her marked card is any valuable red (3, 4 or 5).
Example 3: unambiguous skip play
* Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a clue.
Alice 🡲
1
2
2
2
Bob 🡲
1
2
1
2
4
Cathy 🡲
- Bob has no clue to give and no known play, so he blind plays his newest unmarked card.
- 1 does not connect to , so Cathy interprets Bob's move as a skip play and plays 1.
2 Player strategy
Basic
- Marked cards are not discarded.
- Unique cards are saved.
- Saves are given as late as possible.
- Play clue focus is the leftmost card.
- All known playable cards are played before discarding (including 5s with flamboyants).
- Marked trash cards are corrected.
Intermediate
- Playable first copies are clued.
- Playable cards marked with both colour and number will play first.
- Last clue tokens is only used to mark a unique or playable chop.
- Off-chop saves for consecutive unique cards.
- Double discards can be avoided with a stall clue.
- empty clue
- splash that marks no new cards
- Cards are played in clued order.
- Plays that lead to other plays are prioritised.
- Lower ranked cards are prioritised.
- Unique cards are splashed.
- Black Powder: 1 is only marked on chop unless all other 1s (or 2) are already played.
Advanced
- Number clues that mark a non-unique chop are play clues.
- e.g. with no s discarded, play the left .
- Black Powder: s are marked with a playable 5 on chop. In a following turn the to the left of 5 is marked with colour to play 5.
- Before playing, a connecting card on chop can be marked.
- Flamboyants: consider not locking a hand with a 5 save.
- Avalanche: any card can be multicolor.
- i.e. wait for negative multicolor on a 5 before playing as 5.
- Scream discard = save the chop card (and move chop one slot to the left).
- 1-away from playable cards are splashed.
- Trash cards are discarded before being splashed.
- Already-marked trash cards are splashed.
- An early game may be discarded.
- Black Powder: avoid discarding after an early game 1 or 5 save.
- To allow consecutive 1 and colour 5 saves.
Early game
- At least clue tokens are used before the first discard.
- Black Powder: 5 is marked first if it is the leftmost .
- s are marked next.
- Black Powder: 4 is marked if there are no other s.
- s are marked next.
- With multiple marked unknown s in your hand, consider first playing your s or marking s individually with colour.
Alternative strategy
- Any card may be saved, including non-unique cards.
- Cards marked with a number are only splashed with colour:
- If a previously unmarked card is playable.
- As a stall clue.
Clued misplay example
1 3 3 3 3
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
4
5
Bob 🡲
Discarded: 4
- There are no misfires.
- Alice needs to save 5 and 4.
- Alice to Bob: these 3 cards are red.
1 3 3 3 3
Alice 🡲
1
1
2
4
5
Bob 🡲
Discarded: 4
- Bob misfires 1 as 2.
- Bob interprets this as a clued misplay to save the remaining red cards.
Scream discard example
1 4 2 2 2
5
Alice 🡲
5
5
1
5
5
5
5
Bob 🡲
clue tokens
- There are clue tokens but Alice needs to save 5 and 5.
- Alice discards her chop + 1 = 3rd slot while she has 5 to play.
- Bob expected Alice to play their known playable card.
- Bob knows Alice could have discarded her chop to save his chop.
- Bob interprets Alice's move as moving his chop two places from his 3rd slot to 1st slot.
- Bob now has two unmarked unique cards saved and discards 1.
Positional misplay example
1 3 3 3 3
5
Alice 🡲
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
Bob 🡲
clue tokens
- There are clue tokens and no misfires.
- Alice really wants 2 to play so that Bob can play all his marked cards.
- Alice blind plays her second slot and causes a misfire.
- Bob interprets this as a clue for him to play the same position in his hand.
Splash correction example
3 2 2 2 2
5
Alice 🡲
3
3
3
5
4
3
3
3
5
Bob 🡲
- Alice to Bob: these 2 cards are red .
3 2 2 2 2
5
Alice 🡲
3
3
3
5
4
3
3
3
5
Bob 🡲
- This marks 4 as playable and splashes 3 so that Bob knows it is trash.
Self prompt example
Alice 🡲
4
4
4
4
2
Bob 🡲
- Bob to Alice: this card is red ⇨ 1
- Alice to Bob: this card is red ⇨ 2
Advanced moves
Discard clue
- A discard clue marks known trash cards to prevent an unwanted discard (or misfire).
Discard clue example
1 1 1 1 1
Alice 🡲
1
1
4
3
Bob 🡲
Discarded: 34
- 3 and 4 need to be saved.
- If Alice gives a clue, 4 might be discarded.
- Alice gives a clue so that Bob discards 1 and 1 before his chop card.
Play refusal
- Instead of playing, a player clues or discards their chop.
- The next player must consider if the play refusal is waiting for a potential reverse or if there are unique card(s) to save.
Positional Discard
- In the endgame when you can see all remaining playable cards, you can use a positional discard to communicate the slot position in another hand.
- Typically used with clue tokens or where trash cards make it awkward to clue the target.
Positional discard example
5 5 4 5 5
Alice 🡲
5
2
4
3
Bob 🡲
clue tokens
- Alice discards slot 1
- Bob plays slot 1 ⇨ 5
Long finesse
Long finesse example
1 1 1
Alice 🡲
1
2
4
1
Bob 🡲
3
1
1
1
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Bob: this card is a 4.
1 1 1
Alice 🡲
4
1
2
4
1
Bob 🡲
3
1
1
1
Cathy 🡲
- Bob has been given a play clue and does not see a playable card in any hand, so Bob blind plays his draw card.
- 1 successfully plays.
- Cathy sees that Bob has 2 in front of 4 but 3 is missing, so Cathy knows she must play 3 at the correct moment.
- Cathy discards, Alice discards and Bob blind plays his 2nd slot 2.
1 1 1 2
Alice 🡲
4
5
1
4
1
Bob 🡲
2
3
1
1
Cathy 🡲
- Cathy blind plays her 2nd slot 3.
- Alice discards and Bob plays the marked 4.
Layered finesse
Layered finesse example
1 1 1 4
Alice 🡲
2
5
1
1
Bob 🡲
2
2
1
1
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Bob: these 2 cards are blue.
1 1 1 4
Alice 🡲
2
5
1
1
Bob 🡲
2
2
1
1
Cathy 🡲
- Bob sees a playable 1 in Cathy's hand, layered behind other playable cards 2 and 2.
- Bob discards and Cathy blind plays for 1. 2 successfully plays.
- Cathy knows this cannot be a bluff because Bob would not discard unless he sees a playable 1 in Cathy's hand.
- So Cathy knows she is promised 1 and keeps playing each slot from left to right until her 1 is played.
Trash bluff
Trash bluff example
1 1 1 1
Alice 🡲
2
4
4
4
Bob 🡲
1
2
2
5
Cathy 🡲
- Alice to Cathy: this card is a 1.
1 1 1 1
Alice 🡲
2
4
4
4
Bob 🡲
1
1
2
2
5
Cathy 🡲
- Bob must act now to prevent a misfire of 1.
- Bob blind plays 2.
- Cathy knows Bob would not blind play for a playable , so Cathy now knows that her is trash and this was a trash bluff.
Finesse bluff
- If the following two players both have a playable finesse position, you may be able to perform a finesse bluff.
- The first blind play connects to the target.
- The second blind play does not connect to the target.
Finesse bluff example
Alice 🡲
1
4
4
4
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
4
3
3
2
Donald 🡲
- Alice to Donald: this card is white .
Alice 🡲
1
4
4
4
Bob 🡲
1
4
4
3
Cathy 🡲
4
3
3
2
Donald 🡲
- Bob blind plays 1.
- Donald now thinks his white card is 2.
- Cathy must act now to prevent a misfire of 3.
- Cathy blind plays 1.
- With two blind plays, Donald now knows his white is 3 and this was a finesse bluff.
Double bluff
- If the following two players both have a playable finesse position, you may be able to perform a double bluff.
Promise bluff
This move only applies to 1-away-from-playable bluff interpretations.
- Promise bluffs give more information than regular bluffs, as they promise the necessary connecting cards to make the clued bluff target 1-away-from-playable. These connecting cards must be either marked or unmarked in finesse position.
Empty clue double save
- With not enough Template:Hclue or turns to save consecutive unique cards, an empty clue can save two chop cards.
Tips_hanabi major revision
Refer to Game Help Definitions
Thinking
- Check visible cards, including played and discarded to determine the focus and the meaning of a clue.
- e.g. you are given a Template:Card clue. You see Template:HCardr was played and the second Template:HCardr is in another hand. Therefore the clue means "Template:Cards which are not red".
- e.g. you are given a Template:Card clue that marks only your chop. You see no Template:Cards have been discarded and no Template:Cards on the chop of the players next to you. Therefore the clue means "this Template:Card is playable".
Cluing
- Don't mark trash cards
- Save unique cards as the first priority.
- Look ahead for unique cards on chop. Sometimes more than one player must help to save consecutive unique cards.
- With few Template:Hclue, work out which players need them.
- Consider how the receiver can interpret your clue.
Discarding
- Trust your teammates to manage your cards.
- When there is nothing urgent to clue, don't be afraid to discard! Discarding is often the best move for the team.
Playing
- When multiple cards are marked, determine the focused card. Each clue only has one focused card.
- Logically playable cards are marked at the earliest opportunity, so the leftmost card is assumed to be the focus of play clues (where no other cards are known to be playable).
Triggering the final round
- Sometimes a specific player should draw the last card to maximise the score.
- Giving empty clues (e.g. "you have no red card") can help to manage which player draws last card.
Worked example: first moves
- Alice can clue Template:Card to Bob, but that will mark a second, trash Template:HCardg, so it's not the best option.
1. Alice to Cathy: this card is blue Template:Card
2. Bob to Alice: these 2 cards are Template:Cards
3. Cathy plays Template:HCardb
4. Alice plays Template:HCardw
5. Bob to Cathy: these 3 cards are red Template:Card
6. Cathy plays Template:HCardr
7. Alice plays Template:HCardy
8. Bob discards Template:HCardb
9. Cathy to Bob: these 2 cards are Template:Cards
10. Alice discards Template:HCardb
11. Bob plays Template:HCardg
12. Cathy to Alice: this card is a Template:Card
Skip / steal
- When a player gives a clue that could have been given by one of the skipped players, it means the skipped players have a better move than to give the clue that was used to skip.
- Skipping gives other players tempo to play, discard or clue more cards.
- Nice-to-have (non-unique) cards are kept in the game for longer.
- Skipping should be avoided unless there is a good reason.
Good reasons for skipping players:
- To cause the discard of a playable card so that a copy can be marked with good touch.
- Most or all of the skipped player(s) cards are trash.
- Avoid double discards by ensuring one player must play or save.
- The clue-giver is locked (i.e. all cards are marked without any immediate plays).
- The skipped player(s) may give a bad clue e.g. mark Template:Cards when they already have a marked copy of a Template:Card.
- The skipped player(s) may not give a good clue because they think it might be a bad clue e.g. let a Template:Card be discarded when they already have Template:Cards marked.
- The skipped player(s) need to give a fix clue.
Alternative skip interpretation
A more stringent interpretation of skipping in finesse convention is that the skipped player(s) cannot discard.
- i.e. Alice can clue Cathy only if Bob has a play or should give another clue.
- If a skipped player has no marked playable cards and no good clue to give, it means blind play their newest, unmarked card.
- A clue-giver who causes unmarked play(s) purely from a skip is responsible for any misinterpretation.
2 Player strategy
Basic
- Marked cards are not discarded.
- Unique cards are saved.
- Saves are given as late as possible.
- Play clue focus is the leftmost card.
- All known playable cards are played before discarding (including 5s with flamboyants).
- Marked trash cards are corrected.
Intermediate
- Playable first copies are clued.
- Playable cards marked with both colour and number will play first.
- Last Template:Hclue is only used to mark a unique or playable chop.
- Off-chop saves for consecutive unique cards.
- Double discards can be avoided with a stall clue.
- empty clue
- splash that marks no new cards
- Cards are played in clued order.
- Plays that lead to other plays are prioritised.
- Lower ranked cards are prioritised.
- Unique cards are splashed.
- Black Powder: Template:HCardk is only marked on chop unless all other 1s (or Template:HCardk) are already played.
Advanced
- Number clues that mark a non-unique chop are play clues.
- e.g. with no Template:Cards discarded, play the left Template:Card.
- Black Powder: Template:Cards are marked with a playable Template:HCardk on chop. In a following turn the Template:Card to the left of Template:HCardk is marked with colour to play Template:HCardk.
- Before playing, a connecting card on chop can be marked.
- Flamboyants: consider not locking a hand with a 5 save.
- Avalanche: any card can be multicolor.
- i.e. wait for negative multicolor on a Template:HCardr before playing as Template:HCardr.
- Scream discard = save the chop card (and move chop one slot to the left).
- 1-away from playable cards are splashed.
- Trash cards are discarded before being splashed.
- Already-marked trash cards are splashed.
- An early game Template:Card may be discarded.
- Black Powder: avoid discarding after an early game Template:HCardk or 5 save.
- To allow consecutive Template:HCardk and colour 5 saves.
Early game
- At least Template:Hclue are used before the first discard.
- Black Powder: Template:HCardk is marked first if it is the leftmost Template:Card.
- Template:Cards are marked next.
- Black Powder: Template:HCardk is marked if there are no other Template:Cards.
- Template:Cards are marked next.
- With multiple marked unknown Template:Cards in your hand, consider first playing your Template:Cards or marking Template:Cards individually with colour.
Alternative strategy
- Any card may be saved, including non-unique cards.
- Cards marked with a number are only splashed with colour:
- If a previously unmarked card is playable.
- As a stall clue.
Advanced moves
Discard clue
- A discard clue marks known trash cards to prevent an unwanted discard (or misfire).
Play refusal
- Instead of playing, a player clues or discards their chop.
- The next player must consider if the play refusal is waiting for a potential reverse or if there are unique card(s) to save.
Positional Discard
- In the endgame when you can see all remaining playable cards, you can use a positional discard to communicate the slot position in another hand.
- Typically used with Template:Hclue or where trash cards make it awkward to clue the target.
Long finesse
Layered finesse
Trash bluff
Finesse bluff
- If the following two players both have a playable finesse position, you may be able to perform a finesse bluff.
- The first blind play connects to the target.
- The second blind play does not connect to the target.
Double bluff
- If the following two players both have a playable finesse position, you may be able to perform a double bluff.
Promise bluff
This move only applies to 1-away-from-playable bluff interpretations.
- Promise bluffs give more information than regular bluffs, as they promise the necessary connecting cards to make the clued bluff target 1-away-from-playable. These connecting cards must be either marked or unmarked in finesse position.
Empty clue double save
- With not enough Template:Hclue or turns to save consecutive unique cards, an empty clue can save two chop cards.