Tips hanabi

Definitions and Terminology

Basic

	Definition	Examples
Convention	Agreed set of clue, play, and discard interpretations.	Discard the rightmost unmarked card in your hand. Color clues mean 'play this card'. Number clues that mark a chop card mean 'save this card for later, don't discard it'
Strategy	Plan to achieve the highest score.	Mark first copies of cards.
Chop	The oldest (rightmost), unmarked card in a hand.	white3w,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r🡅,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 green1g,with a green 1clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,white4w🡅,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲
Draw	The newest (leftmost) card in a hand.	white3w🡅,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, ​ green1g🡅,with a green 1clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, ​
Trash	A card that can never be played successfully.	cards in the deckred3ryellow3ygreen3gblue3bwhite3wmulticolormblack powder red1r🡅,with a red 1clue,yellow2y🡅,with a yellow 2clue,green2g🡅,with a green 2clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue, ​
Playable	A card that can be marked by a play clue.	cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gblue1bwhite1wmulticolormblack powder red1r❌,with a red 1clue,yellow2y🡅,with a yellow 2clue,green2g🡅,with a green 2clue,blue4b❌,with a blue 4clue, ​
Critical / Unique	The last remaining card of its rank and color (that can be played successfully at some point).	white4w,with a white 4clue, when the other white4w,with a white 4clue, was discarded.
Marked	A card touched by a clue.	red1r🡅,with a red 1clue,red2r🡅,with a red 2clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,white5w🡅,with a white 5clue, ​
Save	A number¹ clue that marks a chop card to prevent discard. ​In 2-player games where one player must perform more than one consecutive save, a save may occur before it reaches the chop position.	white3w,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice to Bob: "This card is a 5." white3w,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲
Play clue	Clue that marks a card to play i.e. cannot be a save clue.	Alice to Bob: "This card is green." red1r,with a red 1clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue, Bob 🡲
Focus	The target card of a clue.	Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are 5." red5r,with a red 5clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow5y🡅,with a yellow 5clue, ​ This clue can be a save so the focus is the chop card. Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are 2." yellow2y🡅,with a yellow 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue, ​ This clue cannot be a save so the focus is the newer (leftmost) card.
Bomb	A play that causes a misfire.	cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gblue1bwhite1wmulticolormblack powder Alice plays blue3b,with a blue 3clue,
Splash	Additional new color or rank information of cards that are not the focus.	cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gblue1bwhite1wmulticolormblack powder green2g,with a green 2clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,green4g,with a green 4clue, Bob 🡲 Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are green." green2g,with a green 2clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,green4g🡅,with a green 4clue, Bob 🡲 cards in the deckred3ryellow2ygreen2gblue2bwhite2wmulticolormblack powder red4r,with a red 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Bob 🡲 Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are red." red4r,with a red 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Bob 🡲 Play clue for red4r,with a red 4clue, which splashes red3r,with a red 3clue,.
Reclue	A repeated clue that causes marked card(s) to play.	cards in the deckred2ryellow1ygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder red2r,with a red 2clue,green4g,with a green 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue, Bob 🡲 Bob does not yet know his marked yellow is playable. Alice to Bob: "This card is yellow."
Fix clue	Follow-up clue required to change the focus of a play clue (and prevent a misfire).	cards in the deckred1ryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Cathy: "These 2 cards are white." white2w,with a white 2clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob to Cathy: "This card is a 2." white2w,with a white 2clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Cathy 🡲
Prompt	A play clue that causes connecting marked card(s) to play.	cards in the deckred2ryellow5ygreen1gblue3bwhite4wmulticolormblack powder 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." 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 🡲 Bob plays red3r,with a red 3clue,. Cathy plays red4r,with a red 4clue,.

¹Some uncommon convention sets allow color saves.

Save clue thought process

cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gblue1bwhitewmulticolormblack powder Discardedrygbw2m

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."

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.

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.

Intermediate

	Definition	Examples
Good Touch Principle	All marked cards will eventually be played.	Alice to Bob: "This card is a 1." green1g,with a green 1clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,green4g,with a green 4clue,green4g,with a green 4clue, Bob 🡲 number is better than color to avoid duplicate green4g,with a green 4clue,. cards in the deckred2ryellowygreen1gbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are green." green2g,with a green 2clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,green4g,with a green 4clue, Bob 🡲 color is better than number to avoid trash red2r,with a red 2clue,.
Locked	A hand with all cards marked without any plays.	cards in the deckred3ryellow2ygreen3gblue5bwhite5wmulticolormblack powder red5r,with a red 5clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue,green5g,with a green 5clue, Bob 🡲
Early save	An attempt to save a card when there is already a known playable card in the same hand. ​This clue should be read as a play clue. This clue is a mistake, since save clues should only be given after all playable cards are played when the chop card is in danger of discard.	Discardedr2ygbwm Alice to Cathy: "This card is blue." red4r,with a red 4clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob to Cathy: "This card is a 2." red4r,with a red 4clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,white5w,with a white 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Cathy 🡲
Double save	Two consecutive saves in the same hand.	Discardedr2ygbwm Alice to Cathy: "This card is a 2." blue3b,with a blue 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white5w,with a white 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob to Cathy: "This card is a 5." blue3b,with a blue 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white5w,with a white 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Cathy 🡲
Double discard	Two consecutive players discard copies of the same chop card, resulting in a critical 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).	white4w,with a white 4clue,green2g,with a green 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Bob 🡲 blue3b,with a blue 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white5w,with a white 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob discards red2r,with a red 2clue,. Cathy discards red2r,with a red 2clue,.
Blind play	An unmarked card play.	card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 Alice plays slot 1.
Finesse Position	The newest (leftmost), unmarked card in a hand.	white3w🡅,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, ​ green1g,with a green 1clue,white3w🡅,with a white 3clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, ​
Finesse	A play clue that causes connecting unmarked card(s) to play.	cards in the deckredryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Cathy: "This card is blue." blue1b,with a blue 1clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue,green3g,with a green 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 🡲 Bob plays blue1b,with a blue 1clue,. Cathy plays blue2b,with a blue 2clue,.
Reverse(d finesse)	A finesse in reverse order.	cards in the deckredryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "This card is blue." 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,blue5b,with a blue 5clue,green3g,with a green 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob discards. Cathy plays blue1b,with a blue 1clue,. Bob plays blue2b,with a blue 2clue,.
Bluff	A play clue that causes a non-connecting unmarked card to play.	cards in the deckredryellowygreengblue2bwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Cathy: "This card is green." yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue,green3g,with a green 3clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 blue4b,with a blue 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob plays yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,. Cathy knows her green2g,with a green 2clue, cannot be green1g,with a green 1clue, (and keeps it for later).
Bluff seat	The player directly before the player who is bluffed. ​The bluff seat is an H-Group convention which restricts which players are allowed to perform a bluff. Outside of H-Group, it is possible to bluff any player when the players before were unable to blind play (to reveal the bluff).	Order is Alice 🡆 Bob 🡆 Cathy: Alice is in the 'bluff seat' of Bob. Bob is in the 'bluff seat' of Cathy. Cathy is in the 'bluff seat' of Alice.
Discard clue	Clue that marks trash card(s) to be discarded (to prevent a misfire or unwanted discard). ​The receiver must know that all cards marked by this clue are trash.	cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gblue1bwhite1wmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "These 3 cards are 1." red1r,with a red 1clue,red1r,with a red 1clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Bob 🡲
Stall clue	A clue given to avoid discarding. ​Avoid a finesse misinterpretation by giving a negative clue e.g. 'You have no 2'.	1cards in the deckred5ryellow5ygreen5gblue5bwhite3wmulticolormblack powder yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice to Bob: "You have no 2."
Skip/Steal	A player gives a clue that could have been given by one of the skipped players. ​The players who were skipped have a better move than to give the clue that skipped them. Good reasons for skipping players: Clue-giver is locked, i.e., cannot play or discard. 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/ensure a good clue, e.g., mark cards with good touch. Cause a discard, e.g., duplicate or trash card. Avoid a discard, e.g., double discard or nice-to-have card that cannot be saved. More examples below.	cards in the deckredryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Cathy: "This card is blue." blue3b,with a blue 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white1w,with a white 1clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white2w,with a white 2clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob discards white1w,with a white 1clue, (because he has nothing to clue or play).
Generation discard	An unexpected discard to gain 1 clue tokens intended to be used immediately by next player as they need to urgently clue or save another player card.	cards in the deckred2ryellow2ygreen2gblue2bwhite2wmulticolormblack powder 0 clue tokens card back3,with a 3clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,green4g,with a green 4clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue, Cathy 🡲 Alice discards her chop instead of playing card back3,with a 3clue,. Bob to Cathy: "This card is a 5."
Scream discard	An unexpected discard to save a critical card in another hand.	0 clue tokens card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,white5w,with a white 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice discards slot 3. Bob expected Alice to discard her chop. Bob's chop must be critical.
Scream play	An unexpected chop play to save a critical card in another hand.	0 clue tokens card back,with a clue,card back5,with a 5clue,card back5,with a 5clue,card back5,with a 5clue, Alice 🡲 red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice plays her chop card. Bob expected Alice to discard her chop. Alice is unable to perform a scream discard. Bob's chop must be critical.
Duplicate discard	Discard of a duplicate marked copy of a card in another hand.	cards in the deckredryellow1ygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "This card is green." white4w,with a white 4clue,green2g,with a green 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,red3r,with a red 3clue, Alice 🡲 yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,green5g,with a green 5clue,green2g,with a green 2clue, Bob 🡲 Cathy discards green2g,with a green 2clue, and Bob plays his marked copy.
Bottom-decked	When all copies of a card are too near the bottom of the deck to achieve a perfect score.	Both red2r,with a red 2clue, are in the last 2cards in the deck cards of the deck.

Bad Skip (prevents bluff or finesse)

cards in the deckredryellow3ygreen3gblue3bwhite3wmulticolormblack powder

Alice to Cathy: "This card is red."

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,.

Good Skip (ensures good touch)

cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gblue1bwhite1wmulticolormblack powder

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.

Advanced

	Definition	Examples
Long finesse	A finesse of three or more cards lasting more than one complete round.	cards in the deckred3ryellow3ygreen3gblue3bwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Cathy: "This card is white." white1w,with a white 1clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Bob 🡲 white3w,with a white 3clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,green3g,with a green 3clue,yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob plays white1w,with a white 1clue,. Cathy also sees white2w,with a white 2clue, and could hold white3w,with a white 3clue,. Cathy discards. red5r,with a red 5clue,white2w,with a white 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Bob 🡲 yellow5y,with a yellow 5clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,green3g,with a green 3clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob plays white2w,with a white 2clue,. Cathy plays white3w,with a white 3clue,
Finesse Bluff	A finesse followed by a bluff.	cards in the deckred3ryellow3ygreen3gblue3bwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "This card is a 3." white1w,with a white 1clue,white3w,with a white 3clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Bob 🡲 blue4b,with a blue 4clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,green3g,with a green 3clue,yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob plays white1w,with a white 1clue, (finesse). Cathy plays blue4b,with a blue 4clue, as white2w,with a white 2clue, (bluff).
Layered finesse	A finesse with unrelated playable card(s) in front of the target card(s).	cards in the deckred1ryellow1ygreen1gbluebwhite4wmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "These 2 cards are blue." 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 blue1b,with a blue 1clue, in Cathy's hand, but layered behind other playable cards red2r,with a red 2clue, and yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,. Bob discards. Cathy plays red2r,with a red 2clue,. green3g,with a green 3clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,blue5b,with a blue 5clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, Bob 🡲 white5w,with a white 5clue,yellow2y,with a yellow 2clue,blue1b,with a blue 1clue,green1g,with a green 1clue, Cathy 🡲 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 is promised blue1b,with a blue 1clue, and keeps playing each slot from left to right until a blue1b,with a blue 1clue, is played.
Clued misplay	A play clue that causes a misfire to prevent a critical discard in the same hand.	cards in the deckred1ryellow3ygreen3gblue3bwhite3wmulticolormblack powderDiscardedr4ygbwm red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice to Bob: "These 3 cards are red." red1r,with a red 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Bob misfires red1r,with a red 1clue, (and keeps the remaining red cards).
Positional misplay	An unexpected play that marks the same slot position in another hand to play immediately. A risky move if the misplayed card is unknown.	cards in the deckred2ryellow4ygreen4gblue4bwhite4wmulticolormblack powder 0 clue tokens card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red3r,with a red 3clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,red5r,with a red 5clue, Bob 🡲 Alice blind plays slot 2 and causes a misfire. Bob expected Alice to discard her chop. Bob plays red3r,with a red 3clue, in slot 2.
Positional discard	An unexpected discard that marks the same slot position in another hand to play immediately. When all remaining playable cards are visible.	cards in the deckred5ryellow5ygreen4gblue5bwhite5wmulticolormblack powder 0 clue tokens blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red4r,with a red 4clue,green5g,with a green 5clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue, Bob 🡲 Alice discards slot 3. Bob expected Alice to discard her chop. Bob plays green5g,with a green 5clue, in slot 3.
Gentleman's discard	Discard of a known card to play an unmarked copy in another hand. ​The value in this move can be: delay the discard of non-trash cards to the right of the unmarked copy play multiple cards generate a token (see Generation discard)	cards in the deckredryellowygreengbluebwhite1wmulticolormblack powder card back,with a clue,card back2,with a 2clue,card back,with a clue,card back,with a clue, Alice 🡲 white2w,with a white 2clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow3y,with a yellow 3clue,green4g,with a green 4clue, Bob 🡲 Alice discards card back2,with a 2clue,. Bob plays his finesse position (and each slot left to right) until an unmarked copy of white2w,with a white 2clue, is played.
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 there are critical card(s) to save (see Scream discard, Generation discard).	cards in the deckredryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder Alice to Bob: "This card is a 2." blue1b,with a blue 1clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Bob 🡲 blue1b,with a blue 1clue,white4w,with a white 4clue,yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue,red4r,with a red 4clue, Cathy 🡲 Bob discards waiting for Cathy's blue1b,with a blue 1clue,. Cathy discards. Bob plays blue1b,with a blue 1clue, and blue2b,with a blue 2clue,.
Hesitation play	After a play refusal of a playable card, another player may be able to blind play an unmarked card. ​A hesitation play must not interfere with any future response(s). See Play refusal example.	cards in the deckred1ryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder red4r,with a red 4clue,red2r,with a red 2clue,yellow4y,with a yellow 4clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue, Bob 🡲 white1w,with a white 1clue,blue3b,with a blue 3clue,blue4b,with a blue 4clue,white1w,with a white 1clue, Donald 🡲 Alice to Bob: "This card is a 2." Bob discards waiting for a white1w,with a white 1clue, reverse. Cathy discards. Donald knows from the context that Bob's discard can only be waiting for a playable 1 in their hand. Donald plays white1w,with a white 1clue,.

Gameplay Using Finesse Conventions

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 (see Good Touch Principle).
• Save critical cards as priority.
• Look ahead for critical cards on chop. Sometimes more than one player must help to save consecutive critical 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 deckred5ryellow5ygreen3gblue4bwhite5wmulticolormblack powder 4 clue tokens

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,.

More

For more moves and strategies, check out:

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

2 Player Strategy

• Saves are given as late as possible.
• Off-chop saves for consecutive critical cards.
• Double discards can be avoided with a stall clue.
• Last ​ clue tokens is reserved to mark a critical or playable chop.
• Playable first copies are clued.
• Splash critical and already-marked trash cards.
• Play in clued order.
• Before playing, consider marking a connecting chop card.
• Scream discard = save the chop card (and move chop one slot to the left).
• Flamboyants: Consider not locking a hand with a 5 save.
• Avalanche: Any card can be multicolor. e.g. wait for negative multicolor on a red5r,with a red 5clue, before playing as red5r,with a red 5clue,.
• Avalanche: Playable cards marked with both color and number play first.
• 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 clued/played.

Early game

• Avoid discarding until at least 3 clue tokens are used.
• With multiple marked unknown 1s in your hand, consider first playing your 1s or marking 1s individually with color.
• Non-critical 2s / black powder4,with a black powder 4clue, can be marked with number.

Alternative Strategy

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

Other Convention Sets

Finesse Additional Skip Interpretation

​This convention prevents discard management, finesse with number, layered finesse

An additional convention is that skipped player(s) cannot discard. i.e., Alice can clue Cathy only if Bob has a play or can give another useful clue. If a skipped player has no marked playable cards and no good clue to give, they must 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

Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a 1 clue.

cards in the deckredryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder

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,green4g,with a green 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 card back1,with a 1clue,, so Cathy interprets Bob's move as a skip play and plays red1r,with a red 1clue,.

Forbidden Skip Example

Alice skips Bob to give Cathy a 3 clue.

cards in the deckred2ryellowygreengbluebwhitewmulticolormblack powder

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,red3r,with a red 3clue,blue2b,with a blue 2clue,red1r,with a red 1clue, Cathy 🡲

Bob has no clue to give and no known play, so he blind plays his newest unmarked card. In this convention, yellow1y,with a yellow 1clue, does not connect to card back3,with a 3clue,, so Cathy interprets as a bluff and her card back3,with a 3clue, is not playable.

This is a lie because red3r,with a red 3clue, is playable. So Alice is forbidden from giving this clue. Instead, Alice should have discarded and allowed Bob to clue Cathy so that she knows her red3r,with a red 3clue, is playable.

H-Group

Some key differences include:

• non-critical saves
• chop-focused play clues
• context-dependent chop moves
• number play clues are assumed to be a lie (bluff) over truth (finesse).

H-Group

Convention set	Definition	Examples
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 convention sets check out this forum post by Romain672