Hanabi

Officially Hanabi (2010, Antoine Bauza, Cocktail Games / Abacus Spiele)

A landmark cooperative card game where 2-5 players hold cards facing outward — you see everyone else's hand but not your own — and use limited hints to build stacks of colored fireworks. 2013 Spiel des Jahres winner.

📐Shared table with firework stacks + clue/fuse tokens⏱~30 min🌤indoor

What is Hanabi?

Hanabi is a 2010 cooperative card game designed by Antoine Bauza (7 Wonders, Ghost Stories) and originally published in France by Cocktail Games. The game reverses the normal card-game paradigm — you hold your cards facing outward so all other players can see them, but you cannot see your own. The team collectively tries to build 5 firework stacks (5 suits: red, yellow, green, blue, white; numbers 1-5) in ascending order. On your turn, you either: (a) give a color OR number clue about one card to another player (using a limited pool of 8 clue tokens), (b) discard a card to regain a clue token, or (c) play a card from your hand hoping it advances a firework stack. Mistakes accumulate 'fuse' tokens; 3 fuses = game over. Won 2013 Spiel des Jahres and became a benchmark for cooperative game design. Multiple variants exist: Hanabi Deluxe (tiles), Hanabi Rainbow (6th suit), Hanabi Multicolour. Widely studied in AI research (self-play cooperation is a challenging problem).

Quick facts

How it works

Objective

Collectively build 5 color-stacked fireworks (1→5 in each color) for maximum score of 25 (perfect); without accumulating 3 fuse tokens.

Match structure

Deal cards face-out (5 cards for 2-3p, 4 cards for 4-5p). Each turn take exactly 1 action: (1) Give clue (spend 1 blue token), (2) Discard (regain 1 blue token, draw new), (3) Play card (advance stack OR add 1 red fuse). Continue until deck exhausts + one final round OR 3rd fuse triggers game end.

Rules

Basic rules

Cards face outward
You never see your own cards; teammates see yours.
Three action choices
Clue, discard, OR play — exactly one per turn.
Clues are strict
'Point to ALL red cards' or 'ALL twos in your hand' — cannot lie or partial.
Playing a card
If it's the next number for its color stack, it plays; else adds fuse + discards.
3 fuses = game over
Game ends immediately at 3rd fuse; score whatever fireworks completed.

Advanced rules

Meta-conventions
Community developed 'H-conventions': implicit rules about what clue orders mean.
Rainbow variant
6th color acts as 'any color' clue-wise; much harder.
Hanabi 5's
Only 1 copy of each '5' — protecting them is critical.
Bombs = fuses
Some editions call fuse 'bomb tokens'.
Score levels
Score 25 = 'legendary'; 20-24 = 'excellent'; 15-19 = 'honorable'.

Scoring

Total value of top card of each of 5 firework stacks = score (max 25 = perfect).

Action	Points
Each completed firework (5-card stack)	+5 (max)
Partial firework (top card)	Top card value (1-4)
3 fuses triggered	Game ends, score whatever built

Win condition · Highest possible score (25 = perfect); no true 'winning' vs losing — cooperative achievement.

Playing area

Called

Shared table with firework stacks + clue/fuse tokens

Dimensions

5 firework stacks (color) + discard pile + hand cards

Central play area with 5 firework color stacks; each player holds cards facing outward on the table.

Equipment

50 firework cards
5 colors × 10 cards each (3× '1', 2× '2/3/4', 1× '5').
8 clue tokens (blue chips)
Regenerate on discard; spent for hints.
3 fuse tokens (red)
Accumulate on misplay; 3 = game over.
Card holders (optional)
Helps hold cards facing outward.
Rainbow expansion cards (optional)
6th color for harder variants.

Positions & roles

Player
×5
Manages own hand blindly, gives clues, plays or discards.

Officiating

Self-enforced conventions.

None

Penalties & fouls

Penalties

Misplay
Wrong card played = 1 fuse token.
Discarded critical card (like a 5)
That color stack cannot be completed.
Communication outside allowed clues
Convention violation (self-enforced).

Strategies

Learn H-conventions
Community standardized 'first playable = next play' etc. Huge score boost.
Protect fives
Never discard a 5 unless the stack is already complete.
Number clues efficient
'ONE' clue can indicate multiple playable cards.
Don't hoard clues
8 clues is often not enough — discard to regenerate.
Late-game count
Track remaining deck + which cards essential to reach 25.

Terminology

H-group conventions: Community-standardized meaning of clue orders.
Fuse: Red token accumulated on misplay; 3 = game over.
Clue token: Blue chip; spent to give hint, regenerated on discard.
Playable card: Card that would advance a stack next.
Critical card: Card whose loss makes score-25 impossible (e.g. all 5s).
Finesse: Advanced convention: single clue plays 2 cards.

Major competitions

Spiel des Jahres 2013 (Winner)
once · Germany · since 2013
Hanabi AI Challenge (research)
annual · worldwide academic — DeepMind + others · since 2019

Where it is played

Governing bodies

Cocktail Games
Founded 2004 · France
R&R Games (US publisher)
Founded 1997 · USA
Abacus Spiele (DE publisher)
Founded 1990 · Germany

Famous names & records

Famous athletes

Antoine Bauza (designer, 7 Wonders + Takenoko)
Christophe Swal (art)

Records

Spiel des Jahres 2013
Hanabi — Winner (2013)
Best-known perfect score frequency
Various experienced groups — 25/25 achieved by expert teams in ~30-40% of games (2020)
DeepMind's Hanabi AI benchmark
Facebook AI Research + Google — State-of-the-art self-play AI ~24.9/25 average (2022)

Learn this sport

beginner

1
Play once with no conventions
Learn the mechanics + limitations.
2
Score 15+ = solid rookie
Anything above 15 is good for first plays.
3
Learn basic H-conventions
Reference the online H-Group primer for standard clue meanings.

advanced

1
Master H-group finesse
Coordinated clues that play 2-3 cards from one hint.
2
Play rainbow variant
6-color variant is significantly harder.
3
Compete in Hanab.live online
Community-run online play with expert players.

Frequently asked

How is Hanabi different from Codenames?+

Both cooperative with limited communication, but Hanabi is deduction + memory driven, whereas Codenames is word-association.

Can I play Hanabi with 2 players?+

Yes — 2-player Hanabi is challenging but rewarding; use 5-card hands.

What's the H-Group?+

The Hyphen-ated Group is an online community that standardized advanced Hanabi conventions for optimal play.

How long to master?+

~10-20 games to feel comfortable; 50+ games with H-Group conventions to reach expert level.

Is there a good online version?+

Yes — Hanab.live is the free official community platform with lobbies + tutorials.

Sources & provenance

BoardGameGeek — Hanabi— BGG
Wikipedia — Hanabi (card game)— Wikipedia
H-Group conventions— H-Group community
Hanab.live— Hanab.live

Last verified 2026-08-29.verified