Hues & Cues Family Board Game 3 to 10 Players

Hues And Cues is a party game by The Op. This is a game all about different colours – it’s like looking through a range of named paints! It’s a competitive game, where everyone’s playing against one another, trying to score the most points. But you need to help your opponents out sometimes. You’ll give out clever clues and word associations, that help both you and them!

The main board is a massive 30x16 grid of squares, each square being a different colour. It’s akin to looking at a spectrum, with similar shades sitting next to one another. The yellows fade into greens, which fade into cyan and blue, around to purple, and so on. The active player (The Cue-Giver) gets a card with four different colours on it. Each one has its corresponding coordinates, so they can locate them within the grid. The Cue-Giver picks a colour in secret. Then they give a one-word clue (a ‘cue’) to the rest of the players.

For example, if their chosen colour was a light shade of blue, they cannot say “Blue”. Neither can they say a clue regarding direction, such the number of the column it’s in, or the area of the board it resides. Neither can they use a clue word of an object within the room! But they could, in this example, say something like “sky”. Then, in clockwise player order, each player places their pawn onto a single square, onto a colour. Colours are first-come, first served.

The Cue-Giver can then give a second clue (two-words this time). This gives everyone another chance to place a second pawn. (They can opt not to do this, if they think it isn’t beneficial to them!) Then the Cue-Giver places a 3x3 ‘fence’ over the coordinate of their colour. Every pawn inside this fence scores the Cue-Giver 1 point each. Any pawn on the exact square scores that player 3 points. Any pawn elsewhere within the fence scores 2 points. Any pawns on the immediate outside edge of the fence scores 1 point. Then the board resets, and the next player becomes the Cue-Giver…

Can you give out cues in such a way that it helps you score a few points, without dishing out free points galore to your opponents? That’s the trick in Hues And Cues!

Player Count: 3-10 Players
Time: 30 minutes
Age: 8+