Hues and Cues is a color-clue party game where one player gives word clues and others guess a target shade on a giant color grid.
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Turn timer
Keep turns moving with a per-player clock for Hues and Cues.
The standard way to play Hues and Cues - take turns as the Cue Giver, describing a secret color with carefully chosen words while everyone else tries to guess its exact location on the 480-color board. Highest score after all rounds wins.
Hues and Cues is a color-guessing party game where perception meets communication. One player (the Cue Giver) draws a card showing a specific color swatch, then tries to guide everyone else to that exact spot on a giant 480-color board using only one- and two-word clues.
The twist: you cannot use basic color names like "red" or "blue" - you need creative descriptors like "flamingo," "arctic," or "bruise." Points go to guessers who land close to the target and to the Cue Giver based on how well the group performed. Games play in about 30-60 minutes with 3-10 players.
Lay the 480-color game board in the center of the table
Shuffle the color cards and place them face-down as a draw pile
Give each player 2 cone markers in their chosen color
Place one additional marker per player on the score track at zero
Each round, one player becomes the Cue Giver. Everyone else is a guesser.
Draw a card and secretly choose one of the four color swatches shown. Note its grid coordinate - this is the target color you need to describe.
Say a single word to describe the color. You cannot use:
Primary or secondary color names (red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple)
Made-up words
Proper nouns that are just color references
You can use abstract color names like "lavender," "coral," "moss," or any non-color word that evokes the hue - "sunset," "bruise," "ketchup."
After hearing the one-word clue, each guesser places one cone on the board on whatever color square they think matches. Each square can hold only one cone.
The Cue Giver may now give a second clue of up to two words (or pass). The same restrictions on color names apply.
Each guesser places their second cone on any remaining unoccupied square.
The Cue Giver reveals the target coordinate. Place the target frame over that square and score the round (see Scoring below).
Scoring is based on how close each cone landed to the target:
On the exact square - guesser earns 3 points
Within 1 space (adjacent, including diagonal) - guesser earns 2 points
Within 2 spaces - guesser earns 1 point
More than 2 spaces away - no points
The Cue Giver earns 1 point for each guesser cone inside the scoring frame, to a maximum of 9 points.
Tip: Great clues are specific enough to narrow the hue but broad enough that multiple people can find the neighborhood. "Flamingo" beats "pinkish" every time.
The number of rounds depends on player count (per the official rulebook):
4-6 players - each player is the Cue Giver twice (with 3 players, follow the same 'twice' tier)
7 or more players - each player is the Cue Giver once
After the final round, the player with the highest score wins. Ties are broken by the player who scored the most points as a Cue Giver.
Hues and Cues is a highest-score-wins game. Your total is the sum of points earned as both a guesser and a Cue Giver across all rounds.
Tiebreaker: If two players share the same total, the one who earned more points as a Cue Giver wins. If still tied, the players share the victory.
When recording matches, enter each player's final total score. The system determines placement from scores automatically.
Select the Hues and Cues game and the Standard variant
Add all players who participated
Enter each player's final total score (sum of guesser + Cue Giver points)
Submit - the system handles rankings and win detection automatically