Hitster Guilty Pleasures: the timeline game built on cheesy hits
Hitster Guilty Pleasures is a themed edition of the Hitster music party game, stacked with the catchy, cheesy, sing-along hits people pretend to hate and secretly know every word to. Here's what makes the theme tick, how it plays, and where to get it.
Prefer digital?
Tunigma plays the same timeline game free, and lets you filter by decade, genre, and country to cue up your own cheesy sing-along session.
Hitster Guilty Pleasures is a themed 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 of glorious guilty pleasures: the cheesy, catchy, sing-along hits everyone claims to hate and somehow knows by heart. It arrived in 2023 and is a standalone box you can also shuffle into your other Hitster sets.
What is Hitster Guilty Pleasures?
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. Where a standard deck reaches for the biggest hits of all time, Guilty Pleasures zeroes in on one very particular flavor of song, the kind that fills a dance floor at a wedding and gets the whole room singing whether they meant to or not.
The theme: songs you love to hate
A guilty pleasure is that track you'd never admit to owning, yet you know every word, every key change, and exactly when to throw your arms up. This edition is built around roughly 300 of them, and the fun of the box comes from how shameless the picks are. The songs are cheesy, over the top, and unapologetically catchy, the sort a serious music quiz would quietly step around, and that flavor changes the whole mood at the table.
The deck reaches across the decades, from the 1950s right up to recent years, so no single generation owns it. In practice the theme tends to gather a familiar cast of characters:
- Cheesy pop and dance floor fillers: the euphoric, slightly ridiculous chart hits that never quite leave a party playlist.
- Karaoke sing-alongs: the big power ballads and belters everyone reaches for once the microphone comes out, the ones with a chorus built for a full room.
- One-hit wonders: the novelty smashes and flash in the pan singles that defined a summer and then vanished, still instantly recognizable years later.
- Boy bands, girl groups, and teen pop: the manufactured but undeniable hits that ruled the radio and stayed lodged in your head for good.
Because the picks are so unashamed, the game plays differently in spirit even though the rules match the original. Rounds fill up with groans of recognition, people confessing that yes, they do actually love this one, and the odd burst of accidental karaoke. It suits a party built on nostalgia and shared embarrassment, where the joy is as much about who reacts first as who places the card. If your group treats a cheesy chorus as a reason to celebrate rather than cringe, this is the box aimed squarely at them.
How it plays
Guilty Pleasures runs on the standard Hitster timeline rules, so a cheesy hit plays exactly like any other card: hear it, guess where its release year sits, and build your run. The twist here is purely social, because half the table will out itself singing along before anyone gets near the right 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. Guilty Pleasures trades the original's all-round mix for a deck of cheesy sing-along hits, while Summer Party gathers sun soaked anthems for warm weather gatherings. Here's how the three compare:
| Feature | Hitster Guilty Pleasures | Hitster Original | Hitster Summer Party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Build a timeline by release year | Build a timeline by release year | Build a timeline by release year |
| Song theme | Cheesy, catchy guilty pleasures | A broad spread of the biggest hits | Summer anthems and holiday tunes |
| Mood at the table | Nostalgic, silly, sing-along | Classic all-round quiz | Upbeat and party-leaning |
| Win condition | First to place 10 songs | First to place 10 songs | First to place 10 songs |
| Best for | Groups who love a cheesy chorus | A first Hitster box for any crowd | Summer parties and barbecues |
Guilty Pleasures works fine as your only box, but it really earns its keep tipped into a bigger pile: drop the cheesy deck in with a straighter set and the tonal whiplash from a serious classic to a novelty smash becomes half the fun. There's a wider look at the full lineup on the Hitster editions page, along with dedicated rundowns of Hitster Summer Party and the newer Hitster Flying Mic.
Who it's for
Guilty Pleasures is built for a lively, unpretentious crowd. It suits parties, family game nights, and any group that treats a cheesy chorus as an event rather than a guilty secret. Because the songs are so widely known, it levels the field between the resident music buff and everyone else, and the sing-along instinct pulls in players who would sit out a stricter quiz. The 16 and up age rating and the party-first song choices make it a better fit for a loud night than a quiet, serious music round. If your group already has the original and wants a change of flavor, this is one of the easiest to drop in.
What's in the box
- Songs: 308 cards, over 300 guilty-pleasure 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
This cheesy-hits edition has been easy to find since its 2023 release, sold as a US edition, a UK edition, and a handful of European versions. The catch is that the exact deck and language you can order shifts from country to country, so the official Hitster website is the safest place to confirm what ships to you. A few verified listings to start from:
- United States: the US edition is at Target (around $27.99), with listings also at Amazon and Walmart.
- United Kingdom: the UK edition carries a recommended price of around £22.99, with listings on Amazon.
- Netherlands: the Dutch edition runs around €20 to €24 at bol.com.
Prices depend on the retailer and your region, so it's worth comparing a few listings before you buy.
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. You pick the mood yourself, filtering by decade, genre, and country, so you can build your own run of cheesy favorites or anything else. 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 Guilty Pleasures?
It's a themed edition of the Hitster music timeline game, filled with cheesy, catchy, sing-along hits. The rules match the original: you hear a song and place it on your timeline by release year, but the whole deck is made of guilty-pleasure tracks.
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 hits of the last century, while Guilty Pleasures focuses on the cheesy, over the top, sing-along songs people love to hate, which gives the table a sillier, more nostalgic mood.
How many cards and songs does it have?
The box holds 308 cards, so over 300 guilty-pleasure songs, along with 37 tokens for claiming and stealing cards.
How many people can play?
Anywhere from 2 to 10, though the sing-along energy peaks with a full, loud group. The box is rated 16 and up, and a round lands at roughly 30 minutes.
Can I combine it with other Hitster editions?
Yes. It is a full game on its own, not an add-on that needs a base set, but the cheesy deck also mixes happily into your other Hitster boxes when you want a longer stretch with a wider spread of songs.
Do you need the app or Spotify to play?
The scanning app itself costs nothing, but it does not hold the music. To actually hear each guilty-pleasure track it hands off to a streaming service, so in practice you will want a streaming account signed in before the party starts.
How much does it cost?
Pricing depends on the retailer and your region. The US edition is around $27.99 at Target, and the UK edition carries a recommended price of about £22.99. 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 and lets you build rounds by decade, genre, and country.
Hitster is a trademark of its respective owner. Tunigma is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hitster.