Hitster Review

Hitster is a game for 2 – 10 players ages 16 and up. One thing to know before going in is that for optimal play, each player will need a smart device, the ability to download the Hitster app, as well as a spotify account. That’s already a medium ask before we even open the box, but let’s play along.

Inside each box you get a whopping 308 music cards that contain QR codes on one side and dates on the other, plus 37 Hitster tokens. To start, every player gets one random card to start, date side up. This will start their “timeline.” Select a player to be the first DJ, as they open the app and scan the QR code of a freshly drawn card to play a song. The player to the DJ’s left will then need to place the card into their timeline by correctly guessing whether the date of the song is before or after the dates in front of them. If they guess correctly, they keep the card, if not, it is discarded. Other players, if they think the current player’s guess is wrong, can yell “Hitster” and place a token where they think the card belongs. If they end up being right, they take the card instead. Play continues clockwise like so, until a player collects 10 cards in their timeline, thereby becoming the winner! The cool thing about Hitster is that the closer you are to victory, the harder the game gets!

Hitster is a really cool idea with solid execution. It’s a great game to pull out if you have a high amount of players with eclectic musical taste. Even though only one player at a time is actively guessing, the tokens allow “downtime players” to participate and encourages paying attention even when it isn’t “your turn”. Earlier, we recommended everyone have a smart phone, but at bare minimum, 2 people will need to download the app to trade off being DJ when their turns come up, allowing everyone a shot to earn cards.  The instructions say the DJ can’t participate, but if your phone doesn’t show the critical info, feel welcome to play by house rules!