Build a timeline from the songs you hear. The first to collect ten music cards wins.
The starting card counts toward ten in card-count modes; Mixed starts at zero points. Token cards never count as points. Players track turns, cards and scores on the table; the app plays the music.
Start with Original, then raise the challenge. Teams follow the same rules as one player.
Place the song correctly to win it. You do not need the exact year, title or artist.
Name both title and artist on your turn to earn one token card, even if your placement is wrong. Hold at most five.
A challenge spends its token card, even when you steal successfully.
To win or steal, place correctly and name both title and artist. The exact year is not required.
No new token cards can be earned.
After a successful steal, keep your staked token card. A failed challenge spends it.
To win or steal, place correctly and name the title, artist and exact year.
No new token cards can be earned.
After a successful steal, keep your staked token card. A failed challenge spends it.
Work together on one shared timeline. Each incorrect placement costs one shared token card.
Collect ten music cards before losing your last token card.
Shared lives instead of competing. See the Cooperative rules below.
Choose Original, Pro or Expert before each track. Correct turns earn 1, 2 or 3 points by default, with configurable rewards.
Choose points scoring or automatic bonus-card rewards. Challenges use the active player’s chosen difficulty.
In Mixed mode, the active player chooses once per turn and everyone follows that difficulty for the current card.
Before each song is drawn, loaded or played, the active player chooses Original, Pro or Expert. The choice locks for the entire turn, including skips and technical replacements. In digital games the player chooses on their controller, or the game master makes a clearly labelled host-assisted choice.
The host can set each reward from 1 to 100 points during room setup. A correct challenger follows the active player’s chosen difficulty and earns that difficulty’s points instead. Only the player who wins the music card receives points for it.
Everyone starts with one revealed music card, two tokens and zero points. Starting cards and cards taken with three tokens score no points. Token awards and challenge refunds follow the chosen difficulty; choosing a mode never resets tokens, and point rewards do not multiply token awards.
For Points, choose a target score or play until the fixed pile runs out. The highest points total wins, regardless of card count; tied leaders share the win. On the table, record scores separately. Digital games keep score and restore it correctly when the last result is rejudged.
Choose Points or Bonus cards before play. With Bonus cards, keep the played card and automatically reveal and insert 0 / 1 / 2 extra cards for Original / Pro / Expert by default. Hosts can configure each extra-card allocation from 0 to 10. A correct challenger receives the same allocation. All bonuses come from the fixed pile; award only the cards remaining when it runs short. Bonus cards need no playback or guessing and are inserted in chronological order. Card count, including starters and three-token takes, determines victory in this variant. When a result is rejudged, already revealed bonus cards are held for the corrected winner. If nobody qualifies, discard them: they never return to future guessing turns.
Each token card is worth one token. Keep unused token cards beside your timeline and return spent ones to the shared bank. They have no cash value.
On your turn, spend one to discard the current song and scan a replacement. Your turn continues.
Before an opponent reveals, stake one at a different position on their timeline. A correct challenge can win you the music card.
Spend three to reveal a fresh music card and add it directly to your timeline, without guessing. You can do this outside your turn.
The three-token action uses the top unused card, not the song currently being played. It earns no identification bonus. Prepare up to five token cards per competitive player/team so the bank can pay Original-mode bonuses.
Say “Challenge!” and mark a different gap on the active player's timeline with a token card. You are predicting where their music card belongs, not placing it on your own timeline yet.
Music Timeline's table conventions: one attempt per opponent, no moving a committed choice, and first qualifying challenger wins when several gaps are valid.
Start with one revealed music card and five shared token cards. Listen, agree on a placement and reveal. Keep correct music cards. Discard an incorrect music card and return one shared token card to the bank.
Reach ten music cards, including the starter, before the last shared token card is lost.
For Music Timeline's Cooperative mode, token cards are shared lives only: no challenges, skips, three-token exchanges or identification bonuses. This explicit convention keeps the team game simple.
Open Play together. The host signs in with Google, selects a deck and names the players. Everyone else enters the room code, chooses their device/player role and enters its private code.
One room-wide mode applies. The host draws, the current player locks a placement, opponents challenge, then the host reveals and judges title/artist answers. Typed Expert years are checked automatically. The board keeps cards and tokens in sync.
Three-token takes happen between turns. The host can assist a disconnected player, replace an unrevealed unplayable card without token cost, or reopen the last result before another game action. Confirming finish seals the result.
One device plays music after a manual Play action; upload-only selections can use a designated board. Reconnecting resumes the same game without another pass or automatic playback. Check the room’s displayed expiry. See allowances and Game Passes.
Either order is valid as long as the surrounding timeline stays chronological. Months and days do not break ties. A challenger does not override an active player who already meets their mode's requirements.
By default, the first player or team to have ten music cards wins, including the starter, stolen cards and three-token exchanges. Check after resolving each action.
Agree a different target before starting, or use the full-deck house variant: finish the draw pile, then the most music cards wins. Tied leaders share the win. Use that scoring if the deck runs out before a target is reached.
YouTube and SoundCloud embeds may display the title or artist. A non-playing host can handle the screen. Agree how to handle a visibly spoiled answer; hidden playback is not guaranteed.
Try another source or replace the unplayable music card without spending a token card. A technical failure is not a wrong guess.
Agree acceptable shortened titles and artist names before play. Use the printed answer during a turn, agree a group ruling for disputes, and submit a correction through the player when corrections are enabled.
The token-card print page offers 20 smaller cards per A4 sheet, browser printing or a PDF download, and a two-page individual template at preset or custom dimensions. Music cards and token cards print separately. Public downloads must be enabled by the admin.
Music Timeline's adaptation of the HITSTER rules, with token cards and the table conventions described above. Music Timeline is not an official HITSTER product.
Use score cards from the bank to track Mixed mode points. Start with zero points. Award the successful player, including a successful challenger, the points earned under your chosen rules. Add the printed values to find the winner, rather than counting score cards.
Print 1, 2 and 3 point cards, or configure your own values and quantities to match your game. Combine denominations when needed. If a result is rejudged, return or reassign the corresponding score cards. These cards are separate from tokens and are not used for the bonus-card variant.
Print score cards