Is Hanabi good for kids? Age and difficulty

How do you set up Hanabi?

Checked against the R&R Games English rules for Hanabi (2013). The rules are a two-page sheet with no printed page numbers, so page numbers here are PDF pages: page 1 has the contents and getting ready, page 2 has the rules of play.

1. Put the 8 blue clock tokens face up on the table (page 1).
2. Stack the 4 black fuse tokens nearby with the longest fuse on top and the explosion on the bottom (page 1).
3. Take the 50 cards of the five basic colours, leaving the sixth (multicolour) suit in the box. Shuffle them and put them face down as the deck (page 1).
4. Deal each player 5 cards (page 1).
5. Deal each player 4 cards (page 1).
6. Pick up your cards without looking at them, so the other players see the faces and you see only the backs. Nobody may look at their own card faces (page 2).
7. The player in the most colourful clothing goes first. Play goes clockwise (page 2).

How do you teach Hanabi to kids?

The box says 8 and up. We suggest 7 and up with an adult helping, and 9 and up on their own. It is a cooperative game: everyone wins or loses together (page 1).

Say this

1. We are fireworks makers and we have mixed up our fireworks. We have to build five fireworks, one per colour, with cards in order from 1 to 5.
2. You hold your cards so everyone else sees them and you do not. You must never look at your own cards.
3. On your turn you do one of three things: give a clue, discard a card, or play a card. You can't skip.
4. A clue is about one colour or one number, and you point to all the cards of that colour or number in a teammate's hand. Giving a clue uses up a blue token.
5. Discarding puts a blue token back. When you play a card that doesn't fit, it burns a fuse. If the third fuse burns, we lose.
6. The game ends when the cards run out, three fuses burn, or all five fireworks are built.

The rulebook has no beginner variant, but it says you may set your own rules about talking while you play, for example allowing comments (page 1). The ideas below say where they come from.

First-game simplifications

• Official variant Set your own rules about talking. The rulebook says you could allow comments like "I still don't know anything about my hand" (page 1).
• House rule Let a grown-up help each kid remember what clues they have been given, by pointing at the card, for the first game.

Watch-outs for kids ages 7 to 9

• You must clearly point at the cards you are giving a clue about. You can't say "you have no red cards" (page 2).
• A clue is about one colour or one number, not both. You must point at every card in the hand that matches (page 2).
• You can't give a clue when there are no blue tokens left. You can't discard when all the blue tokens are on the table (page 2).
• You can't skip a turn. If you play a card that doesn't fit, you discard it and burn a fuse (page 2).
• Other players may not comment on your turn or try to steer you (page 2).
• You may look through the discard pile at any time (page 1).
• After the last card is taken from the deck, everyone gets one more turn, including the player who took it (page 2).

Back for another game?

• Never look at your own cards. You may rearrange your hand to remember clues (page 1). On your turn, do exactly one of: give a clue, discard a card, or play a card (page 2).
• Give a clue: take a blue token from the table into the box lid. Point at every card of one colour, or every card of one value, in one teammate's hand (page 2).
• Discard: put a card face up on the discard pile, draw a new one, and move a blue token from the lid back to the table (page 2).
• Play: put a card on its colour's firework if it is the next number in order, otherwise discard it and move a black fuse token to the lid. Then draw a replacement (page 2).
• Completing a firework by playing a 5 gives a blue token back, unless all of them are already on the table (page 2).
• The game ends when the third fuse burns (a loss), when all five fireworks are complete (a perfect 25), or after the round where someone draws the last card (page 2).
• Score: add the highest card in each firework (page 2). The rulebook's scale runs from "horrible, booed by the crowd" up to "legendary" (page 1).

How do you score Hanabi?

You play as a team, so there is one score. For each of the five fireworks, count the highest card you built, 0 if you built none. Add them up (page 2). A full set is 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 25, the most you can score (page 2). The rulebook gives a scale for the total: 5 or less is horrible, 6 to 10 mediocre, 11 to 15 an honorable attempt, 16 to 20 excellent, 21 to 24 amazing and 25 legendary (page 1). If the third fuse burns, the game ends at once and is lost (page 2).