User talk:Sammy McSam

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.

Final Score Ratings

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

​clue tokens clue tokens

# cards dealt to each player

# Players	2	3	4	5
# Cards (official)	5	5	4	4
# Cards (unofficial variant)	6	5	4	3

Options

Colors

Normal: 5 colors

50 cards

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.

+10 cards

Multicolour (m)	111	22	33	44	5

Difficult: 6th color (5 cards)

• These cards are marked by a separate multicolour clue.

+5 cards

Multicolour (m)	1	2	3	4	5

Avalanche of Colors: Multicolor (10 multicolor)

• These cards are marked by any colour clue.

+10 cards

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.

+10 cards

Black Powder (k)	555	44	33	22	1

Five Flamboyants

After playing the last card of a colour, one of the following bonuses is randomly selected without replacement for immediate use:

Bonuses

Regular	Gain ​clue tokens
Flamboyants	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).

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"

1. The active player selects a card in another player's hand.
2. The active player selects a clue option.
3. ​clue tokens is moved from 'available' to 'used'.

Play

1. The active player selects a card in their hand.
2. 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.

3. A replacement card is drawn.

Discard

Possible with fewer than ​clue tokens available:

1. The active player selects a card in their hand.
2. The active player selects the 'Discard selected card' button.
3. The discarded card is placed in the discard pile.
4. ​clue tokens is moved from 'used' to 'available'.
5. 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 playable 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.

ELO rating

1. Hanabot's ELO is generated from:
   • Final score¹
   • Average team ELO
   • Colour option²
2. 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.

Conventions

• There are not enough ​clue tokens to clue both colour and number of every playable 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 different clue interpretations, the game becomes unplayable.
• 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.

Definitions

Marked

A card that is highlighted 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 given a play clue in the future.

Bomb

A play that causes a misfire.

Draw

The newest card in a hand.

Chop

The oldest, unmarked card in a hand.

Unique

A card that does not have a playable copy.

Save

A number clue that marks a chop card to prevent discard.

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

When 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).

Splash

Additional new information of cards that are not the focus.

Fix clue

Clue required to change the focus.

Discard clue

Clue that marks known unplayable cards to prevent a misfire or unwanted discard.

Good Touch Principle

All marked cards will eventually be played.

Skip / steal

When a player gives a clue that could have been given by one of the skipped players.

Prompt

A play clue that re-touches an already marked card.

Bottom-decked

When the first copy of a playable card is too near the bottom of the deck to achieve a perfect score.

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.

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 unplayable will be discarded before other cards e.g. cards marked blue when the blue stack complete.

Play clue

• Colour clues are play clues.
• Number clues that do not mark a unique chop card are play clues¹.
• The focus is the newest card.
• Lower rank cards have priority.

Save clue

• Number clues that mark a unique chop card are save clues¹.
• The focus is the chop card.
• Older cards have priority.

¹Exception: 2 player game with 2+ consecutive saves.

Fix clue

• Colour or number clue required to prevent a misfire.
• Typically given by the last possible player to avoid misinterpretation.
• Often used when playing with avalanche or black powder options.

Fix clue example 1

2 5 5 5 5

  

  

  

  

Alice 🡲

1

1

2

4

Bob 🡲

3

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 🡲

3

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

3

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.

Discard clue

• Unplayable marked cards should be corrected to prevent misfires e.g. A     play clue that also marked unplayable    s.

Bad clue

• Mark 0 new cards and no information.
• Tell a lie e.g. a clue that marks 2 as playable now without the required 1.
• Mark unplayable 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    .
• 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    .
• 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.

Finesse Convention

The finesse convention builds on the standard convention (making it a bit more complex); the timing of a clue gives additional information.

Players assume:

• Standard convention assumptions.
• Clues are given by the last possible player.

When the timing of a clue doesn't match a player's expectations, they can make special interpretations.

Special interpretations

• The connecting cards for the "next playable card in the sequence" are not limited to marked cards as in the standard convention; the newest, unmarked cards in every player's hand is also considered.

Finesse example

              

  

  

  

  

Alice 🡲

1

5

3

1

Bob 🡲

5

2

2

2

Cathy 🡲

• Alice to Cathy: this card is blue    .
• Cathy now knows her marked card 2 is playable now.
• 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    .
• Bob now knows his marked 2 is playable now.
• 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    .
• Cathy now knows her marked card 2 is playable now.
• 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 in fact 2.

If a marked card is discarded it means:

• A copy of that card is already marked in someone else's hand; or
• A copy of that card must be marked in a future save clue; or
• An unmarked copy of that card is playable now (known as gentleman's discard)