WBG Score: 7.5/10
Player Count: 2-10
You’ll like this if you like: Pop song trivia!
Published by: Jumbo
Designed by: Marcus Carleson
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
I first came across Hitster at Essen. There was a large crowd standing around a table with loud music coming from a speaker. I was intrigued and went over to look. I ended up joining in a game and then played with my friends for ages. I had a great time. Hitster is that kind of game. It pulls you in, draws a crowd, and makes you stick around for a good time. But is it for you? Does it have staying power? Or is this just for conventions? Let's get it to the table and find out.
How To Set Up Hitster
Take out the cards and give them a shuffle. Then give each player one card. They will place this face up in front of them to form their starting year. Any card is fine for this. The player doesn't need to know the song they get. They just need a year to build from. Now give each player two Hitster tokens, open (or download - it's free) the Hitster free app and sync it to your Spotify account, if you have one. If not, you do not need to download Spotify, but it would be better if you do and sign into an account there too. But it will work without an account, connecting automatically to the free version. You are now ready to play.
How To Play Hitster
The first player will now scan the top card of the deck. The back side shows a QR code and when you show your phone with the app open these code, it will instantly start playing the song. Do not flip the card over yet. The player whose turn it is must now place this card to the left or right of their starting card. They do this by identifying the year the song came out. If they think it precedes the year they have face up in front of them, they will place the card to the left of their starting card. If they think it is a newer song, then place it to the right. Now, flip this card to identify the song and year. If they are right, they get to keep the card there. If they are wrong, the card is discarded. Play then moves to the next player.
As players get more cards, they need to try to guess where the new card will slot into their row of cards. It can be tricky if you start to get songs that were released very close to each other. Each player must slot the card they are trying to guess into the position they think it should go so there is no ambiguity with their guess, and then flip it over to see if they were right.
Before each player flips their card however, other players have the opportunity to play one of their Hitster tokens if they think the initial player has placed the card in the wrong place. If that player was wrong, then the player who played their Hitster token gets to take the card instead.
At any point, you can replace three Hitster tokens with a free card from the top of the pile, adding to your row of cards for free. Players can acquire extra Hitster tokens by naming the song's title and the artist's name before you flip the card. If you are correct, you get another token, regardless of whether you placed the card in the right place or not.
You can also use the Hitster tokens to replace a card if you don't know the answer, or don't want to risk a guess.
The game continues like this, in turns, until one player has ten cards in front of them. Or, just play for fun until you get bored.
You can also play cooperatively in two larger teams. Take five Hitster tokens if you are playing like this. Less if you want a more difficult game. You can also adjust the difficulty of the main game by saying that the guesser has to name the artist and song on their turn to keep the card, or for an even trickier experience, you need to name the exact year!
The songs are generated via the app connecting to a Spotify account. So, you will need someone who has this app too. And ideally, the premium version. Although it does connect automatically to the free version too.
Is It Fun? Hitster Party Game Review
If you like music and party games, you will love this. There is not much too it. Listen to a song, try and identify the year. Place the card into the right spot in your row of cards. But the game is more than the game itself. It is the songs too. You can listen to the whole song if you like. And make this party game last all night, simply as part of a play list!
I played this at a friend's house once where everyone was given ten cards as they came in, and were then able to scan the card whenever they wanted to hear one of their randomly selected songs. We then all, as a collaborative, had to place the cards into order throughout the night. There is a lot of creativity to be had with these cards.
The songs are incredibly varied, and range in genres, styles, and of course, year released. They date back from the 30's all the way up to the modern day, with songs from popular pop, rock, RnB, Hip Hop, Country, and Indie bands and Solo artists, as well as many, many more. There are over 300 cards in the box, so plenty of choice and variation for many hours of fun with this.
Could you play this with just a music app? Sure, but it wouldn't be as fun. The app is very slick and seems to have overcome some previous issues of connectivity. It has always worked great for me, but I did hear about issues a few months back. However, it has been perfect for our games. The cards with their large QR codes make the process seamless and offer a "let's get straight to the fun" kind of experience. The second the app looks at the QR code, the song begins immediately. It is a very smooth process. My kind of party game. Set-up and rules can be done in seconds, and the game plays for as long as you want it to. This could well be the perfect party game for music fans around the world.
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