Hitster Chansons Françaises: the timeline game built on French hits
Hitster 100% Chansons Françaises is a French-music edition of the Hitster party game, stacked with a century of francophone hits, from classic chanson to variété and French pop. Here's what makes the theme tick, how it plays, and where to get it.
Prefer to skip the box and cards?
Tunigma has France among its regions, so you can build a French round on your phone from thousands of songs, free.
Hitster 100% Chansons Françaises is a regional edition of Hitster, the music timeline party game from Jumbo. It keeps the same guess the song and place the year mechanic as the rest of the range, then swaps the song pool for a deck built entirely around French-language music: a hundred years of francophone hits, from timeless chanson to variété française and modern French pop. It plays on its own out of the box, and the French deck slots just as happily into your existing Hitster sets. You may see it sold as Hitster 100% Chansons en Français or Hitster 100% Chanson Française, but they refer to the same French-music edition.
What is Hitster Chansons Françaises?
At its core it's still Hitster: you listen to a song, then place it on a shared timeline in the right spot by the year it came out, building a run of correctly ordered tracks. This edition keeps the whole deck francophone: French-language songs and French artists across roughly a century of music, with none of the wide international sweep the original reaches for.
The theme: a century of French music
This edition keeps everything in French. The deck reaches back across the decades and gathers the songs that shaped French radio, French dance floors, and French living rooms, so the whole game is sung in the language of the room. It's a deck built for a crowd that grew up with these tracks and can hum the chorus before the title lands.
The picks span far more than one era or one style, which is a big part of the fun. In practice the theme tends to pull from a familiar range of French music:
- Classic chanson française: the storytelling songs and grand voices that defined French music through the mid twentieth century, the standards passed down across generations.
- Variété française: the big, melodic pop of the 1970s and 1980s, the radio staples and stadium singalongs that still fill a French party.
- French pop and rock: the guitar bands, synth hits, and chart pop that carried French music through the following decades.
- Modern francophone hits: the recent French-language singles, including the newer urban and pop crossovers, that keep turning up on today's playlists.
Because every card is a French-language track, the game plays differently in spirit even though the rules match the original. Rounds fill with hums of recognition, half-remembered lyrics, and the odd argument about which decade a beloved singer really belonged to. It suits a night built on shared French nostalgia, where players who might sit out an English-heavy quiz suddenly know every answer. If your group's musical memory is French first, this is the box aimed squarely at them.
How it plays
Chansons Françaises runs on the standard Hitster timeline rules, so each French track plays like any other card: hear it, judge where its release year sits, and grow your run. The one difference at the table is recognition, since a familiar chanson tends to give itself away in a hum long before anyone settles on a decade. For the full walkthrough of tokens, steals, and the tougher modes, see the guide on how to play Hitster.
How it differs from the Original and other editions
Every main Hitster edition shares the same timeline rules, so the difference is always the song pool and the mood it creates. Chansons Françaises trades the original's international spread for a deck sung entirely in French, while Guilty Pleasures leans into cheesy singalong hits and Summer Party gathers sun soaked anthems. Here's how they compare:
| Feature | Hitster Chansons Françaises | Hitster Original | Hitster Guilty Pleasures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Build a timeline by release year | Build a timeline by release year | Build a timeline by release year |
| Song theme | A century of French-language hits | A broad international spread of hits | Cheesy, catchy guilty pleasures |
| Mood at the table | French nostalgia and singalong | Classic all-round quiz | Nostalgic, silly, singalong |
| Win condition | First to place 10 songs | First to place 10 songs | First to place 10 songs |
| Best for | French game nights and francophiles | A first Hitster box for any crowd | Groups who love a cheesy chorus |
Since every box stands alone yet most decks mix together, dropping the French cards into your other sets stretches a session into something longer and more varied. There's a wider look at the full lineup on the Hitster editions page, along with dedicated rundowns of Hitster Guilty Pleasures and the newer Hitster Flying Mic.
Who it's for
Chansons Françaises is built for a French-speaking crowd and anyone who loves French music. It suits family game nights, apéro gatherings, and any group whose shared soundtrack is francophone rather than English-language. Because these songs are woven into French daily life, the resident music buff loses their usual edge, and older players who grew up with chanson and variété end up on a level with the younger ones raised on French pop. The 16 and up age rating and the deep back catalog make it a natural fit for a mixed-generation table. If your group already has the original and wants a set that speaks their language, this is one of the easiest to reach for.
What's in the box
- Songs: 308 cards, over 300 French-language hits with QR codes.
- Tokens: 37 chips for claiming and stealing cards.
- App: the free Hitster app scans the cards and plays each song.
- Players: 2 to 10.
- Age: 16 and up.
- Play time: around 30 minutes.
- Publisher: Jumbo.
Where to buy
Being a French-market release, Hitster 100% Chansons Françaises turns up mainly at francophone retailers, on the shelf and online alike. Stock and available editions shift from one country to the next, so the French-language official Hitster website is the surest way to see what ships to you. A few verified French listings to get you started:
- Philibert: the French edition is listed at around €24.95 on Philibert.
- Fnac: the edition is stocked at Fnac, with a recommended price of around €22.99 to €24.99.
- E.Leclerc: it's also listed at E.Leclerc.
What you pay swings with the shop and whatever promotion is running, so a quick look across a couple of listings usually pays off before you commit.
Prefer to play digitally?
If it's the guess the song and place the year timeline game you're after, but you'd rather skip the box, the cards, and the setup, you can play the same style of game right on your phone. Tunigma plays the songs itself, with no cards to scan and no Spotify, Apple Music, or other streaming app or subscription, and it's a free download. It doesn't have a dedicated chanson genre, but it does let you pick France as a region, so you can filter the pool to French music and build your timeline from French tracks, along with filters for decade and genre if you want to narrow it further. There's a fuller look on the Hitster alternative page, a wider rundown of the best Hitster alternatives, and an overview of the boxed range on the Hitster editions page.
Coming soon
Frequently asked questions
What is Hitster Chansons Françaises?
It's a French-music edition of the Hitster music timeline game, filled with a century of French-language hits, from classic chanson to variété française and modern French pop. The rules match the original: you hear a song and place it on your timeline by release year, but the whole deck is French.
How is it different from the original Hitster?
The rules are the same. What changes is the song pool. The original spreads across the biggest international hits, while Chansons Françaises keeps every card in French, which suits a francophone table where players know the songs by heart.
How many cards and songs does it have?
The box holds 308 cards, so over 300 French-language songs, along with 37 tokens for claiming and stealing cards.
How many people can play?
The box seats 2 to 10 players and carries a 16 and up age rating, with a typical round wrapping up in about half an hour.
Can I combine it with other Hitster editions?
You can. The French deck works fine as a game on its own, and because most Hitster sets are cross-compatible you can pour it in with your other cards when you want a bigger, more varied pool.
Do you need the app or Spotify to play?
Downloading the Hitster app costs nothing, but the playback itself runs through a linked music streaming service, so in practice you'll want a streaming account on hand to actually hear each French track.
How much does it cost?
Pricing depends on the retailer and any current promotion. The French edition is listed at around €24.95 at Philibert, with a recommended price of roughly €22.99 to €24.99. Compare the listings above for your area.
Is there a digital version of this kind of game?
The boxed game runs on cards and the Hitster app. For a fully digital timeline game with no cards to scan and no streaming subscription, Tunigma is a separate app that plays the songs itself. It has no chanson genre, but you can set France as a region to filter it to French music.
Hitster is a trademark of its respective owner. Tunigma is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hitster.