Hanabi - Tips & Strategies

I haven’t seen any tips here of this sort, but have heard elsewhere (no disrespect to the video reviewer) about reading body language, ticks, and quirks of the clue-giver to read more from their clue than what was specifically said. Having grown up in a bidding card game family, I have been “trained” to not give any information this way and not to permit it from others. Now, in Hanabi, you are only cheating yourself, not the other partners, if you share additional information this way, so you are welcome to it. But in games I play we take a strict house rule against it. I believe the game is intended to be played through information and inference, “What was the clue you gave me?” “Why did you give me that clue?” “Why did you give me that clue now?” These are all “valid” inferences to determine what your next play or future play should be or should not be. But pointing out cards in a particular order or making voice inflections to communicate more information makes this a very different game.

This game is all about limited “table talk” – the information shared through clues and inferences from clues.
If you have competitive gamers at the table, the house rule regarding any additional table talk beyond what is expressly permitted in the clues might be very strict.
If you are playing with younger players or, in my case, an aging parent, you might allow additional table talk (without destroying the basics of the game). You might ask the person periodically, “What do you know about this card?” (since they have it set aside in their hand) or similar questions to keep their mind focused.

My group showed too much respect to the Fuse tokens during our first games. Nobody wanted to be the one responsible for prematurely ending the game. We kept our options limited to “give a clue”, “discard a card” and “play a sure thing”. We never considered plying cards that may work. Our game ended by running out of cards and we had a mediocre score due to our overly cautious play.

There are multiple Fuse counters for a reason. Only the last one seals your fate. Use the first few as opportunities for calculated risks. When clue tokens are dwindling and you have a few cards in your hand that could be playable or discarded, consider the blind play versus the automatic discard. (Don’t do this with cards that could be the last of their kind unless it is near game’s end anyway!) A common example would be when two colors are scored at one point and you are still searching for the other colors’ ones. If you know you have a couple of ones remaining in your hand, based on what information you can glean from all exposed cards, you can probably take a shot at playing one rather than discarding something obvious. This play should help increase final scores without risking the end of play.

We intentionally do not give someone ANY clues about their hand when their oldest card needs to be discarded. This helps us not waste clues on someone who is holding multiple cards of the same number, when only one of those cards is actually safe to discard. Not knowing anything about the cards in your hand removes any temptation to attempt to play one that is unplayable.

While this may be different for some groups – with so few clues available make sure that the clues you do give lead to action. In general a clue that helps a player make a move three or four moves from now doesn’t help too much. Knowing I have 3 fours doesn’t help much when the highest stack is at 2.

If someone has two one’s and neither is represented on the table – let them know they have ones. In our group this means that the ones can be acted on. With holes in the one’s tableau that means I can usually play them. Our group extends this convention to other numbers/colors as well.

The exception to this are the land mines – the 5’s and the cards that have a match in the discard. These are the cards you need to inform the person what they are as soon as possible. In our group telling me I have two 4’s when no fours can be played (or no way I can decide which one is playable) means one of them is critical – save them. Obviously pointing out the 5’s is critical as well

If you don’t receive information on a card in 3-4 turns and the table had the clues to do it (especially the person to your right) then that card is probably a safe dump.

Using these conventions our group has routinely performed in the 20’s with two successful shows.

Especially important in a 2 player game, don’t use the last clue if if can be at all avoided. Consider first if there is anything you know can be played or discarded, and is it really important to tell the other player that information right now. If there are no clues left for the other player they cannot tell you important information if needed leaving you blind.

When you are down to one or no clues, if you know you have a player and a safe discard, it’s best to do your discard first and save your play for your next turn ( as long as you’re not too near the games end). Especially if the player next to you has a blind hand. By discarding first you give that player the option of giving a clue to save them from having to blindly discard.

Now if they have no players and you want them to discard then go ahead and make your play.

There is only one “five” card of each color. Discarding a five before its corresponding “four” has been played guarantees a less than perfect score. Establish a method of keeping your known fives separate from the rest of your hand. You can turn the cards 90 degrees. Or turn them upside down while keeping new or unknown cards oriented in the opposite direction. No matter how you do it, keep the fives from being discarded or played too soon.

Since the main obstacle in this game is not having enough clue tokens you want to be able to gain some back, and that has an impact on your completion strategy.

The first is pretty obvious, once you have all the colors on the table you can give people with at least two “1” the hint that they are ones and they can trash them giving you more clues back than it cost to give them the information (and don’t forget the bonus information that they now know that the rest of the hand is NOT ones).

The other one is to complete a color. If you can give a clue that will either finish a color with a five or crank another color up to four, the general rule is to complete the first color, and this for two reasons:

1) When you play a five you get a clue token back
2) All of a sudden you can point out “free trash” in the same way as with the ones.

Of course certain situations may break this rule if you need progress in order for your timing to flow.

Also remember that it is not good to trash to many cards in favour of clues. Quite often the game ends because you run out of cards, and any clues still at your disposal at that time means a lost opportunity to play a card instead.

When playing through Hanabi, groups tend to feel they need more information than they have.

When looking for more information, be sure to include a thorough examination of the discard pile. Since you know how many of each card is in the deck, knowing what is in the discard pile can be a big help in identifying cards in your hand.

For instance, if you’re told that you have a 4 in your hand, and it’s towards the end of the game, you can often work out which 4 you must have, based on what has been played, what is in the discard pile, and what is in the other players’ hands.

Additionally, if someone discards a non-one card, and someone has the other in their hand, you should make sure your clues get across that the card has become important and shouldn’t be discarded.

When we play, we make a point of spreading out the discard pile (and sorting by color) to make it easier for people to determine what is (and isn’t) in the discard pile.