Hanabi is a card game by Antoine Bauza. These rules are copied directly from the official leaflet of the American Hanabi Deluxe printing of the game. Most grammatical errors and inconsistencies are unchanged.
- Antoine Bauza
- 2 to 5 players, ages 8+
- 60 Hanabi tiles
- 6 suits: blue, white, yellow, green, red, multicolor
- each with three 1's, two 2's, two 3's, two 4's, one 5
- 8 Clock tiles
- 4 Fuse tiles
Hanabi is a cooperative game, i.e. a game where the players do not play against each other but work together towards a common goal. In this case they are absent minded fireworks manufacturers who accidentally mixed up powders, fuses and rockets from a fireworks display. The show is about to start and panic is setting in. They have to work together to stop the show from becoming a disaster! The pyrotechnicians have to put together 5 fireworks, (1 white, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 green), by making a series rising in number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) with the same colored tiles.
Place the 8 Clock tiles face up on the table. Stack the 4 Fuse tiles nearby with the longest fuse on top and the explosion on the bottom. Place the 50 single color tiles face down and mix them up to make a draw pile. Note, a 6th multicolor suit is included in the game, but it is for advanced play only, please see Variants section.
- With 2 or 3 players, each player selects 5 tiles.
- With 4 or 5 players, each player selects 4 tiles.
We will refer to these tiles in front of each players as their 'hand'.
CRUCIAL!: The players MUST NOT look at their own tiles! They must set them on the table so that the other players can see the fronts of the tiles (showing the symbols) and they only see the backs (with Shinto gate). They are not allowed to look at the fronts of their tiles during the game until they are played. This would dishonor them and taint their reputation as master pyrotechnicians!
The player with the most colorful clothing begins the game. The players then take their turn going in a clockwise direction. On their turn, a player must complete one, and only one, of the following three actions (and they are not allowed to skip their turn):
- Give one piece of information.
- Discard a tile.
- Play a tile.
NOTE: When it is a player's turn, his teammates cannot comment or try to influence him. This is highly dishonorable and will bring great shame upon you.
In order to carry out this task, the player has to flip over a Clock tile on the table so it is now face down. They can then tell one teammate something about the tiles in front of that teammate.
IMPORTANT: The player must clearly point to the tiles which they are giving information about. (Thus saying "You have zero of something" is not allowed as you cannot point to anything.)
Two types of information can be given and the player giving the information chooses only one type to give:
- Information about one specific COLOR (and only one)
- Information about one specific VALUE (and only one)
IMPORTANT: The player must give complete information. If a player has two green tiles, the informer cannot only point to one of them, they must point to BOTH green tiles.
NOTE: The action cannot be performed if there are no Clock tiles face up on the table. In that case, the player has to choose to perform a different action.
This act turns over a face down Clock tile on the table back to face up. The player announces clearly that they are DISCARDING, then places a tile from his hand in the discard pile (separated away from the draw pile and face up). They then takes a new tile from the draw pile and adds it to his hand without looking at it.
NOTE: This action cannot be performed in all the Clock tiles are face up on the table. The player must perform a different action.
The player takes a tile from his hand and plays it to the center of the table. Two options are possible:
- The tile either begins, adds to, or completes a firework and it is then added to the appropriate color firework.
- The tile doesn't begin, add to or complete any firework. Discard the tile out of the game, then flip the top Fuse tile face down beside that stack. The fuse is burning shorter and time is running out.
After playing their tile, they then take a new tile from the draw pile and adds it to their hand without looking at it.
- There can only be one firework of each color. The tiles for a firework have to be placed in rising order (1, 2, 3, 4 and finally 5).
- There can only be one tile of each value in each firework (so 5 tiles in total).
When a player completes a firework - i.e. they successfully play the tile with a value of 5 - flip a face down Clock tile back to face up on the table. This addition is free; the player does not need to discard a tile. This bonus is lost if all of the Clock tiles are face up on the table.
There are 3 ways to end the game of Hanabi:
- The game ends immediately and is lost if the third Fuse tile is flipped over (thus revealing the explosion).
- The game ends immediately and it is a stunning victory if the firework makers manage to make the 5 fireworks before the tiles run out. The players are then awarded the maximum score of 25 points.
- The game ends if a player takes the last tile from the pile: each player plays one more time, including the player who picked up the last tile. The players cannot pick up tiles during this last round (as the pile is empty).
Once this last round is complete, the game ends and the players can then add up their score.
In order to calculate their score, the players add up the largest value tile for each of the fireworks.
Artistic impression is determined by the Artisan League Of Fireworks Technicians reference scale:
| Points | Overall Impression |
|---|---|
| <= 5 | Horrible, booed by the crowd... |
| 6-10 | Mediocre, just a hint of scattered applause... |
| 11-15 | Honorable attempt, but quickly forgotten... |
| 16-20 | Excellent, crowd pleasing. |
| 21-24 | Amazing, they will be talking about it for weeks! |
| 25 | Legendary, everyone left speechless, stars in their eyes! |
- Add the 6th suit to the game and attempt to create all 6 fireworks. In this variant, the multicolor suit is not wild, it's a separate firework.
- Same as Variant 1, except use only one tile of each number (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) for the multicolor suit.
- Add the 6th suit to the game and these tiles are now wild. In this variant, you cannot call out the multicolor suit. Instead of the multicolor tiles always count as the color in your clue. But when playing the tile, it counts and builds as the 6th (multicolor) firework.
- The game does not end after the round where the last tile is picked up. It continues until the players are defeated (3 Fuse tiles flipped over OR if an indispensable tile has been discarded) or until the players are victorious (all the fireworks are completed). The players can then find themselves with fewer tiles in their hand at the end of the game and the score scale is not used: the fireworks display has to be perfect. (Can also combine this with any one other variant.)
A player who is given information can rearrange their hand in order to put the tiles concerned in an order which is easier for him to remember (on the left, on the right, standing horizontally or vertically).
The players can look at the tiles in the discarded pile at any time. If a player discards a tile that they have no information about, they run the risk of getting rid of a tile which could be useful in completing a firework. Sometimes a player will have no choice and will have to discard a tile that they knows nothing about. However, there are multiple copies of the tiles (except for the tiles with a value of 5); so discarding one does not necessarily mean that the firework cannot be completed.
Clearly identify a firework that you know you cannot complete: for example pulling out the last tile in the series slightly. The tiles of the corresponding color could still be discarded to flip Clock tiles back face up on the table.
Communication (and non communication) between the players is essential to Hanabi. If you follow the rules closely, you can only communicate with your teammates when you give them information and flip a Clock tile. However, you can play whichever way suits you best: set your own rules regarding communication. You could always allow comments like "I still don't know anything about my hand" or "So do you remember what you have in your hand?"
- A game by ANTOINE BAUZA
- Illustrations: ALBERTINE RALENTI, Graphic Designer: JENN VARGAS
- English rules editors: FRANK DILORENZO, ANTHONY RUBBO
- ©2014 R&R Games Inc., all rights reserved, www.rnrgames.com
- Licensed with permission from Cocktail Games (www.cocktailgames.com) and Les XII singes (www.les12singes.com).