Goal

• Be the first player to collect the target number of song cards on your personal timeline — a chronological row of songs sorted by release year, oldest on the left and newest on the right. The default is 10 cards — you can change this before starting.

Setup

• Each player receives one starter song card already placed on their timeline as a reference point.
• Everyone also receives starting tokens ✪ depending on the chosen mode (see Modes below).
• The remaining songs are shuffled into a shared card deck. One player goes first — chosen in setup.

A Turn

• The active player is whoever's turn it currently is. All other players can watch, listen, and challenge.
• 1. Listen — a QR code appears. Scan it with your phone to open the song on Spotify, then set your phone face-down so no one accidentally sees the song details. Everyone listens together.
• 2. Place — tap a slot on your timeline where you think the song belongs chronologically. Your timeline runs oldest → newest, left to right. Slots appear between and around your existing cards.
• 3. Title & artist guess (optional) — before revealing the answer, you can try to name the song title and/or artist for a bonus token ✪. What counts depends on your mode — see Modes below.
• 4. Reveal — tap Reveal the song ✨ to check whether you are right or wrong. The card flips to show the year, title, and artist.
• 5. Result — correct placement means the card moves to your timeline. Wrong placement means the card is discarded. Either way, the turn passes to the next player.

---

Tokens ✪

• Earning tokens — guess the title and/or artist correctly during your turn to earn +1 token (what counts depends on your mode — see Modes below). For featured songs, the main artist alone counts (e.g. "Eminem" for Eminem ft. Rihanna). The name bonus is yours regardless of whether your placement was correct — even if a challenger takes the card. Exception: in PRO mode, you must get both placement and name right to keep the card. Tokens are capped at 5 per player — if you're already at 5 the token is simply not awarded, but you can still type for fun.
• Skip (1 ✪) — discard the current card and draw a fresh one instead. Useful if you have no idea about the song.
• HITSTER! Challenge (1 ✪) — before the active player reveals the song, any other player can pay 1 token to challenge. See the Challenge section below.
• Buy Placement (3 ✪) — spend 3 tokens to let the game place the card automatically in the correct chronological position. No guessing, no risk — guaranteed card.

HITSTER! Challenge

• After the active player has chosen their slot but before they reveal the song, any other player may pay 1 token to challenge.
• The challenger picks a different slot on the active player's timeline — betting the active player is wrong and they know the right position.
• Active player correct — they keep the card. The challenger loses their token.
• Challenger correct, active player wrong — the challenger wins the card, automatically added to their own timeline. The token spent to challenge is not returned.
• Both wrong — the card is discarded. The challenger already lost their token.
• Only one challenge attempt is allowed per turn. The first player to call out a challenge gets the right.
• PRO mode only: the challenger must also name the artist and title correctly to win the challenge. If they do, their token is returned.

---

Modes

• 🎵 Original — the classic experience. Start with 2 tokens. Place the card correctly to keep it. Guess both title and artist correctly for a bonus token. A challenge win requires only the correct slot — no title & artist needed.
• 😎 Chill — more relaxed. Start with 3 tokens. Same placement rules as Original. For the bonus token, guessing either the artist or the title is enough — you don't need both. Empty fields don't count as wrong.
• 🔥 PRO — hardest mode. Start with 5 tokens. To keep a card you must get the placement and the name (artist + title) both right. Getting only one of the two is not enough. For challenges, the challenger must also name the artist and title correctly to win — but if they do, their token is returned.
• ⚡ Quick Fire — speed mode. Start with 3 tokens. Press Play to hear a 30-second preview, then place your card before time runs out. If you don't place in time, the card is discarded — but you can still name the artist & title for a bonus token ✪. Same bonus rules as Original: both artist and title must be correct. All jokers (Skip, Challenge, Buy Placement) are available, but Skip and Buy Placement can only be used while the preview is still playing. Challenges can only be called if the active player placed a card during the preview.

---

Winning

• Normal win — the first player to reach the target number of cards wins — but all other players in that same round still take their turn first. If multiple players hit the target in the same round, the player with the most tokens wins. If still tied, all tied players share the victory.
• Deck runs out — if the card deck is empty and no one has hit the target yet, the player with the most cards wins. If still tied, the player with the most tokens wins. If still tied, all tied players share the victory.
• Finish game — any player can tap Finish game at any time to end the game early. The same rules apply: most cards wins, then most tokens, then shared victory.

Good to know

• Songs from the same year can be placed in any order relative to each other — both slots are accepted.
• Capitalisation doesn't matter for the song title & artist name check — typing in all lowercase or all uppercase both work.
• If the active player typed with a small typo, any other player can tap "Override" to still award the bonus token.