Hitster Battle of the Generations rules

2 to 10 players · ages 16+ · 30 minutes · party game

Set up in one minute

1. Decide whether you play individually or in teams. A team shares one timeline and one supply of tokens.
2. Everyone picks an era: Vinyl Classics (up to 1985), Cassette & CD Hits (1985 to 2004) or Streaming Songs (2005 to 2025). Place the three decks separately on the table, QR code facing up.
3. Each player or team gets two tokens and one card from their own era. Place that card face up in front of you, year showing: this is the start of your timeline.
4. Open the Hitster app on one phone. Whoever holds it is the DJ, scans the cards and simply plays along.
5. Everyone takes a card from the pink Vinyl deck. Whoever draws the oldest song goes first. Put those cards back and then play clockwise.

How to play a turn

In short: unlike regular Hitster, everyone picks their own era here, so your mum guesses hits from before 1985 and your nephew guesses the ones from after 2005. Otherwise you scan a card, listen and place it in the right spot on your timeline. The first to have ten cards correctly placed wins. Don't have the box yet? Hitster Battle of the Generations is in the shop.

1. The DJ scans the top card of your era's deck. The song plays.
2. No idea? Pay one token, the card is discarded and the DJ scans a new one.
3. Place the card year side down on your timeline: before your oldest card, after your newest, or somewhere in between. Know the title and artist? Say them out loud.
4. Does someone else think you are wrong? They shout "HITSTER" and place a token on your timeline where they think the card belongs. Each spot fits only one token.
5. Flip the card over. If it is in the right place, it stays there, and getting both the title and artist right earns you a token. If it is in the wrong place, the card is discarded, or goes to the challenger who got it right.
6. It is the next player's turn.

Hitster tokens

You start with two tokens, never have more than five and earn one per turn by getting both the title and the artist right. You spend them like this:

What you do	Cost
Skip a song and have a new card scanned	1 token
Shout "HITSTER" and challenge someone else's card	1 token (lost if you were wrong)
Place a card from your own deck straight onto your timeline, without guessing	3 tokens

You can do that last one at any time, even when it is someone else's turn.

When does the game end?

As soon as a player or team has ten cards correctly placed, the game ends immediately. A card you won from someone else through a challenge counts too.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need regular Hitster to play this?

No. The box contains 420 music cards and 37 tokens, and the app is free. Battle of the Generations is a complete standalone game.

Can we mix the cards with our other Hitster boxes?

You can, as the cards are the same size and work with the same app. Do stick to Dutch editions, though, because Hitster matches the songs to the country where you play. Cards from other boxes are simply not sorted by era.

Do we need a paid Spotify account?

No. Without an account or with a free one, the app plays a snippet. With a paid account you hear the whole song. If you play via YouTube Music or Deezer, the DJ looks up the song by hand instead of scanning.

Can we play together instead of against each other?

Yes, there is a cooperative variant. You start together with five tokens and one card and build a single timeline, from one era or mixed. Every mistake costs a token. If you have ten cards correctly placed before the tokens run out, you win.

Is there a harder version for when everyone knows everything?

Two, in fact. In PRO you only keep a card if you also name the artist and title; you start with five tokens and do not earn any more. EXPERT asks for the year on top of that, with three tokens to start with.

Tips for experienced players

• Pick your era based on knowledge, not taste. The deck whose years you know beats the deck you love.
• Save up to three tokens and buy a card when you are on eight or nine. It is the only move nobody can challenge.
• Challenge on long timelines: with eight cards the gaps are small, and that is where things often go wrong.

Do you play a house rule that is not listed here, or have you spotted a mistake? Let us know and we will update it.