Tips hanabi

Definintions and Terminology

Basic

	Definition	Examples
Convention	Agreed set of clue, play, and discard interpretations.
Strategy	Plan to achieve the highest score.
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 color (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.	Example red2r,with a red 2clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white4w,with a white 4clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 blue5b,with a blue 5clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 white2w,with a white 2clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Cathy 🡲 Alice to Cathy: "This card is red." red2r,with a red 2clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white4w,with a white 4clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 blue5b,with a blue 5clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 white2w,with a white 2clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Cathy 🡲 Cathy now knows her marked card is the next playable in the sequence ⇨ red4r,with a red 4clue,, because red3r,with a red 3clue, is already marked. Bob now knows his marked red card is red3r,with a red 3clue, and he must play it now. Self prompt example redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back1,with a 1clue, Alice 🡲 white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,green4g,with a green 4clue,green4g,with a green 4clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Bob 🡲 Bob to Alice: "This card is red ⇨ red1r,with a red 1clue," Alice to Bob: "This card is red ⇨ red2r,with a red 2clue,"

Intermediate

	Definition	Examples
Good Touch Principle	All marked cards will eventually be played.
Splash	Additional new color or rank information of cards that are not the focus.	Splash correction example red3r,with a red 3clue, yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue, green2g,with a green 2clue, blue2b,with a blue 2clue, white2w,with a white 2clue, red4r,with a red 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are red." red3r,with a red 3clue, yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue, green2g,with a green 2clue, blue2b,with a blue 2clue, white2w,with a white 2clue, red4r,with a red 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue, Bob 🡲 This marks red4r,with a red 4clue, as playable and splashes red3r,with a red 3clue, so that Bob knows it is trash.
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.	Bluff redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Alice to Cathy: "This card is blue." redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Cathy now knows her marked card blue2b,with a blue 2clue, is playable. Bob does not see the connecting blue1b,with a blue 1clue,, so he assumes he has to play it now. Bob does not have a marked card that could be blue1b,with a blue 1clue,, so Bob blind plays his newest unmarked card. white1w,with a white 1clue, successfully plays and the bluff is revealed. Before Bob played, Cathy thought her marked card was blue1b,with a blue 1clue,. 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; they must also be a one-away-from-playable blue2b,with a blue 2clue,.
Bluff seat	The player directly before the player who is bluffed1.
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.2
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.	Scream discard example red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue, green2g,with a green 2clue, blue2b,with a blue 2clue, white2w,with a white 2clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back5,with a 5clue, Alice 🡲 yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,green5g,with a green 5clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue,white5w,with a white 5clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 There are 0 clue tokens but Alice needs to save blue5b,with a blue 5clue, and green5g,with a green 5clue,. Alice discards her chop + 1 = 3rd slot while she has yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, 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 third slot to the first slot. Bob now has two unmarked unique cards saved and discards yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,.

¹Bluff seat is an H-Group concept. Note that this concept is unhelpful for understanding how bluffs work since outside of H-Group, it is possible to bluff any player given the right conditions.

²A 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).

Advanced

	Definition	Examples
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.	Clued misplay example red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue, green3g,with a green 3clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white3w,with a white 3clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Discarded: red4r,with a red 4clue, There are no misfires. Alice needs to save red5r,with a red 5clue, and red4r,with a red 4clue,. Alice to Bob: "These 3 cards are red." red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue, green3g,with a green 3clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white3w,with a white 3clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Discarded: red4r,with a red 4clue, Bob misfires red1r,with a red 1clue, as red2r,with a red 2clue,. Bob interprets this as a clued misplay to save the remaining red cards.
Positional misplay	An unexpected play that marks the same slot position in another hand to play immediately.	Positional misplay example red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue, green3g,with a green 3clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white3w,with a white 3clue, red1r,with a red 1clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 There are 0 clue tokens and no misfires. Alice really wants red2r,with a red 2clue, 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.
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 1 clue tokens.

Conventions

Finesse

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 clues may also include the newest, unmarked cards in every hand.

Finesse

redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue,

blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Cathy 🡲

Alice to Cathy: "This card is blue."

redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Cathy 🡲

Cathy now knows her marked card blue2b,with a blue 2clue, is playable. Bob knows that Cathy will bomb her blue2b,with a blue 2clue, as blue1b,with a blue 1clue, unless a blue1b,with a blue 1clue, is played first. Bob does not see the connecting blue1b,with a blue 1clue,, so assumes he has to play it now. Bob does not have a marked card that could be blue1b,with a blue 1clue,, so Bob blind plays his newest unmarked card. blue1b,with a blue 1clue, successfully plays.

Reversed Finesse

redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue,

red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Bob 🡲 blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Cathy 🡲

Alice to Bob: "This card is blue."

redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Bob 🡲 blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob now knows his marked blue2b,with a blue 2clue, is playable. Bob sees the newest, unmarked card in Cathy's hand is of the same color and playable now. Bob assumes it is a finesse with the players in reversed order and his blue card is blue2b,with a blue 2clue,.

Long Finesse

​

Alice to Bob: "This card is a 4."

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Bob 🡲 white3w,with a white 3clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,green1g,with a green 1clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, 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. white1w,with a white 1clue, successfully plays. Cathy sees that Bob has white2w,with a white 2clue, in front of white4w,with a white 4clue, but white3w,with a white 3clue, is missing, so Cathy knows she must play white3w,with a white 3clue, at the correct moment. Cathy discards. Alice discards. Bob blind plays his 2nd slot white2w,with a white 2clue,.

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blueb,with a blue clue, white2w,with a white 2clue, blue5b,with a blue 5clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Bob 🡲 yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Cathy 🡲

Cathy blind plays her 2nd slot white3w,with a white 3clue,. Alice discards. Bob plays the marked white4w,with a white 4clue,.

Layered Finesse

Players assume the same as above, but finessed cards can be layered behind other unrelated, but playable cards.

Layered finesse

​

• Alice to Bob: these 2 cards are blue.

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blueb,with a blue clue, white4w,with a white 4clue, blue2b,with a blue 2clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Bob 🡲 red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob sees a playable blue1b,with a blue 1clue, in Cathy's hand, layered behind other playable cards red2r,with a red 2clue, and yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,. Bob discards and Cathy blind plays for blue1b,with a blue 1clue,. red2r,with a red 2clue, successfully plays. Cathy knows this cannot be a bluff because Bob would not discard unless he sees a playable blue1b,with a blue 1clue, in Cathy's hand. So Cathy knows she is promised blue1b,with a blue 1clue, and keeps playing each slot from left to right until her blue1b,with a blue 1clue, is played.

Save Clue

• A (number) clue that marks a (unique) chop card. (Exception: 2-player game with 2+ consecutive saves.)
• Focus is the chop card.

Example

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue, whitew,with a white clue, Discarded: white2w,with a white 2clue,

card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 red4r,with a red 4clue,yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white2w,with a white 2clue, Cathy 🡲

Alice to Bob: "This card is a 5."

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue, whitew,with a white clue, Discarded: white2w,with a white 2clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 red4r,with a red 4clue,yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white2w,with a white 2clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob knows that there is only one 5 of each color in the deck, so all 5s need to be marked to keep them from being discarded. Bob sees Cathy's oldest card is white2w,with a white 2clue, and checks the discard pile to see if he needs to save it from being discarded. There is already a white2w,with a white 2clue, in the discard pile and Bob knows there are only two 2s of each color, so Cathy has the last remaining white2w,with a white 2clue, and Bob must save it.

Bob to Cathy: "This card is a 2."

Good job, Bob.

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue, whitew,with a white clue, Discarded: white2w,with a white 2clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 red4r,with a red 4clue,yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white2w,with a white 2clue, Cathy 🡲

Cathy looks at the played cards to see if 2s are all playable. The white1w,with a white 1clue, has not been played yet, so she cannot be sure it is playable yet. Next, Cathy looks at the discard pile to see if there is a 2 in the discard pile. There is a white2w,with a white 2clue, discarded, so she interprets this number clue marking her oldest card as a save clue to prevent her from discarding it. Nice one, Cathy.

Play Clue

• A clue that does not mark a (unique) chop card. (Exception: 2-player game with 2+ consecutive saves.)
• Focus is the newest card.

Priority:

1. Lead to plays in other hands.
2. Lower rank.

Play clue

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white4w,with a white 4clue,

card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue, Cathy 🡲

Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are red."

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white4w,with a white 4clue, card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob now knows his newest card is the next playable in the sequence (red2r,with a red 2clue,), and the other marked card is red3r,with a red 3clue,, red4r,with a red 4clue,, or red5r,with a red 5clue, (because every marked card will be playable at some point).

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

red2r,with a red 2clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green5g,with a green 5clue, blue5b,with a blue 5clue, white5w,with a white 5clue,

white1w,with a white 1clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Bob 🡲 yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue, Cathy 🡲

Cathy's red3r,with a red 3clue, must play next. The focus of a 3 clue on its own will be white3w,with a white 3clue, and the focus of a red clue will be red5r,with a red 5clue,.

Alice to Cathy: "These 2 cards are red."

red2r,with a red 2clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green5g,with a green 5clue, blue5b,with a blue 5clue, white5w,with a white 5clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Bob 🡲 yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob to Cathy: "These 2 cards are 3s". (This Fix Clue changes the focus from red5r,with a red 5clue, to red3r,with a red 3clue,, which is now visible.)

red2r,with a red 2clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green5g,with a green 5clue, blue5b,with a blue 5clue, white5w,with a white 5clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Bob 🡲

yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue, Cathy 🡲

Bad Clue

• Tell a lie, e.g., a clue that marks red2r,with a red 2clue, as playable without the required red1r,with a red 1clue,.
• Mark unknown trash or duplicate cards, e.g., mark 4s in another hand when your hand could have a copy of that 4.

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)

Other conventions

Name	Summary	References
Logical Leftism	No convention, just logic	hanabi logic
Conventional Leftism	Another name for Finesse	hanabi logic Postmans
Hat-guessing	Clues relate to slot position, not the cards marked	H-Group Robert Kaspar H-Group empty clues
Closest Friend	Clue interpretation depends on which player gave the clue	H-Group
Secret convention	Each player randomly selects a secret restriction	Secret variant Secret hanabi restriction

For more moves, conventions, and strategies, check out:

• Sammy's BGA wiki
• Romain's Google doc.

General Strategy

Strategy for 2 Players

• 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.

Advanced Strategy

• Playable first copies are clued.
• Playable cards marked with both color and number will play first.
• Last 1 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, an empty clue, or a splash that marks no new cards
• Cards are played in clued order.
• Plays that lead to other plays are prioritized.
• Lower-ranked cards are prioritized.
• Unique cards are splashed.
• Black Powder: black powder1,with a black powder 1clue, is only marked on chop unless all other 1s (or black powder2,with a black powder 2clue,) are already played.
• Number clues that mark a non-unique chop are play clues. e.g. with no 3s discarded, play the left 3.
• Black Powder: 5s are marked with a playable black powder5,with a black powder 5clue, on chop. In a following turn, the 5 to the left of black powder5,with a black powder 5clue, is marked with color to play black powder5,with a black powder 5clue,.
• Before playing, a connecting card on the 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 red5r,with a red 5clue, before playing as red5r,with a red 5clue,.
• 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 marked 4 may be discarded.
• Black Powder: avoid discarding after an early game black powder1,with a black powder 1clue, or 5 save to allow for consecutive black powder1,with a black powder 1clue, and color 5 saves.

Early game

• At least 3 clue tokens are used before the first discard.
• Black Powder: black powder5,with a black powder 5clue, is marked first if it is the leftmost 5.
• 2's are marked next.
• Black Powder: black powder4,with a black powder 4clue, is marked if there are no other 4s. 1s are marked next. With multiple marked unknown 1s in your hand, consider first playing your 1s or marking 1s individually with color.

Alternative Strategy

• Any card may be saved, including non-unique cards.
• Cards marked with a number are only splashed with color:
  • If a previously unmarked card is playable.
  • As a stall clue.

Gameplay Using Convention

Receiving Clues

• Check visible cards, including played and discarded, to determine the focus and the meaning of a clue.
• Example A: you are given a 2 clue. You see red2r,with a red 2clue, was played and the second red2r,with a red 2clue, is in another hand. Therefore the clue means "2s which are not red".
• Example B: you are given a 4 clue that marks only your chop. You see no 4s have been discarded and no 4s on the chop of the players next to you. Therefore the clue means "this 4 is playable".

Giving Clues

• Don't mark trash cards (a.k.a. "good touch" rule).
• Save unique cards as 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 maximize the score.
• Giving empty clues (e.g., "you have no red card") can help to manage which player draws the last card.

Last Card Example

1cards in the deck red5r,with a red 5clue, yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue, green3g,with a green 3clue, blue4b,with a blue 4clue, white5w,with a white 5clue,

red3r,with a red 3clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,green1g,with a green 1clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue, Bob 🡲 green2g,with a green 2clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,green4g,with a green 4clue,green5g,with a green 5clue, Cathy 🡲

• Alice and Bob both give empty clues. e.g., Alice to Cathy: "You have no white card".
• Cathy plays green4g,with a green 4clue, and draws the last card.
• Alice discards, Bob plays blue5b,with a blue 5clue, and Cathy plays green5g,with a green 5clue,.

Skip

• 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 should be avoided unless there is a good reason.

Example of a Bad Skip/Steal

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Alice skips Bob to clue Cathy red. redr,with a red clue, yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue, green3g,with a green 3clue, blue3b,with a blue 3clue, white3w,with a white 3clue, red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Alice 🡲 blue1b,with a blue 1clue,yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue,white5w,with a white 5clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue, Bob 🡲 red1r,with a red 1clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white3w,with a white 3clue, Cathy 🡲

If Alice discarded instead, Bob would have clued Alice red to finesse red1r,with a red 1clue, and red2r,with a red 2clue,.

Potential reasons for skipping players:

• Clue-giver is locked, i.e., all cards are marked without any immediate plays.
• Gain tempo to play, e.g., skipped player(s) all have playable cards.
• Gain tempo to clue, e.g., skipped player(s) must give a fix clue.
• Avoid a bad clue, e.g., mark cards with good touch.
• Ensure a good clue, e.g., mark cards with good touch.
• Cause a discard, e.g., of a playable card so that its copy can be marked with good touch, or of trash.
• Avoid a discard, e.g., a double discard, or of nice-to-have (non-unique) cards.

Good Skip Example A

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,

white1w,with a white 1clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Bob 🡲 white2w,with a white 2clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Cathy 🡲

Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a blue clue so that a duplicate white2w,with a white 2clue, is not marked.

Good Skip Example B

red1r,with a red 1clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, green1g,with a green 1clue, blue1b,with a blue 1clue, white1w,with a white 1clue,

white1w,with a white 1clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Bob 🡲 yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue, Cathy 🡲

Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a blue clue because Bob has let blue2b,with a blue 2clue, reach chop and does not want to mark it because he might hold a copy.

Additional Information

An additional finesse convention is that skipped player(s) cannot discard. e.g., 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, they can blind play their newest, unmarked card. A clue-giver who causes unmarked play(s) purely from a skip is responsible for any misinterpretation.

Skipped Players Cannot Discard Example

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Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a 1 clue.

redr,with a red clue, yellowy,with a yellow clue, greeng,with a green clue, blueb,with a blue clue, whitew,with a white clue, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Bob 🡲 white2w,with a white 2clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob has no clue to give and no known play, so he blind plays his newest unmarked card. yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, does not connect to 1, so Cathy interprets Bob's move as a skip play and plays red1r,with a red 1clue,.

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Advanced moves

Discard clue

A discard clue marks known trash cards to prevent an unwanted discard (or misfire).

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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.

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Trash Bluff

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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.

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Double Bluff

If the following two players both have a playable finesse position, you may be able to perform a double bluff.

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Promise bluff

This move only applies to "one-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.

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Empty Clue Double Save

With not enough Template:Hclue or turns to save consecutive unique cards, an empty clue can save two chop cards.

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