How to make your own Hitster, the easy way
You can build a custom deck with a card generator and a printer, or you can skip all of that. Here's a clear rundown of both, so you can pick the path that actually fits your game night.
Rather skip the building entirely?
Tunigma is the ready-made version, thousands of tracks with sourced release years, so there is nothing to generate, print, or laminate.
Two reasons send people looking to build their own deck. The box runs out, so after a few nights you've heard every song and the surprise is gone. And the music never quite fits, because a generic deck is full of tracks your group has never heard while leaving out the stuff you actually know. Making your own promises fresh songs and full control, and it can genuinely deliver. It also asks more of you than it first looks.
The DIY route, step by step
Building a deck from scratch runs roughly like this:
- Gather your songs. Pull together a playlist you want to play with.
- Generate the cards. A web tool turns each track into a card with a scannable code on the back that links to a streaming service.
- Fix the years. This is the sticking point. Release dates from streaming data are frequently wrong for remasters and compilations, so you often correct them by hand.
- Print, cut, and sort. Print in color, cut everything out, and ideally laminate so the cards survive real use.
- Test the scanning. Make sure the codes actually scan and land on the right song without spoiling the answer on screen.
Done carefully, you get a personal deck to be proud of. Done in a hurry, you get wrong years, a paper cut, and a stack of cards that still need a subscription to play. Either way it's an afternoon of work, and there's a shortcut worth knowing about.
The shortcut: let the game build the deck
If what you really want is a fresh, custom feeling deck without the printing, a digital game already solved this. Tunigma is a fully digital music timeline game, so there's nothing to generate, print, or laminate. It plays the songs itself with no Spotify or other streaming app, comes with thousands of tracks, and its release years are carefully sourced by a review process that cross checks several sources rather than trusting raw streaming data. That last part quietly fixes the biggest headache of the DIY route, and it changes how you build a deck.
How you get a custom deck without building one
Instead of hunting down songs one by one, you shape the deck with filters. Choose the decades, genres, and countries you want, and Tunigma assembles a fresh round from thousands of tracks. Want an 80s only night, a hip hop battle, or a set built around one country's music? It's a tap. You get the custom feel people are after, with minutes of setup replaced by seconds, and the pool never runs dry. There's more on that on the custom music quiz page. So if you came here to make your own Hitster because you wanted more and better songs, the digital route gets you there without the printer, and it's free to download.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make my own Hitster cards?
Yes, using a card generator that turns a playlist into printable cards with scannable codes. Be ready to correct wrong release years by hand and to print, cut, and laminate the cards yourself.
Why are the release years often wrong on DIY cards?
Free tools usually pull the date from streaming data, which lists remasters, reissues, and compilations rather than the true original release. That's why generated decks are frequently off by years.
Is there an easier way than printing my own?
Yes. Tunigma gives you a custom feeling deck with no printing: you pick decades, genres, and countries and it builds a fresh round from thousands of songs, with carefully sourced years.
Can I use my own exact songs?
Tunigma lets you shape the deck by decade, genre, and country rather than uploading individual tracks. That gives you themed rounds instantly, and the deck never runs out.
Hitster is a trademark of its respective owner. Tunigma is not affiliated with or endorsed by Hitster.
