Hot & Cold
About the game and how to play
Hot & Cold is an online take on the classic childhood game. The host hides a target — a number, a point on the world map, a spot on an image or an object — and the other players get hints from “freezing” to “burning” as they guess. Play all at once or turn by turn, solo or in teams, with an elimination mode for extra tension.
- Players
- 2–20 players
- Category
- Guessing games
- Price
- Free, no download, no sign-up
- Where to play
- In the browser on phone, tablet and computer
Can be played with friends in an online room
How to play
- The host picks the kind of target and hides it — nobody else can see it.
- Players guess and get a hint after every try showing how close they are.
- The fewer guesses you need to find the target, the more points you score.
- When the rounds are over, the top of the scoreboard wins.
Tips
- In Number mode, halve the range with every guess. Hints are measured against the whole range: on Medium sensitivity “Warm” already means within a quarter of it, and “Hot” means within 5%.
- In Object mode each category (animals, vehicles, fruits) is ordered from smallest to largest, and heat is measured along that order — think in sizes: if “elephant” is Freezing, the target is probably small.
- A finder’s score adds up time left (up to 400), few attempts (up to 200, minus 40 for each extra guess) and 50 for being first, so a well-reasoned guess is worth more than rapid-fire ones.
- As the host you get 15 points for every wrong guess, plus 250 if nobody finds the target or 100 if someone misses it. Hide it somewhere unexpected: an odd number, a spot in the middle of the ocean.
Frequently asked questions
Does the hider change every round?
No, the host who created the room hides the target in every round and never guesses. In return the host scores from wrong guesses and surviving targets, so they still compete on the scoreboard.
How do elimination mode and the guess limit work?
The host can limit each player to up to 20 guesses per round. With elimination mode on, a player who uses them all without finding the target is out for the rest of the game; if no limit was set, elimination defaults it to 3.
Can we play Hot & Cold in teams?
Yes, with Team mode on each guesser picks Team A or Team B in the lobby. Members’ points are added together and the team with the higher total wins; the host doesn’t join a team.
How precise does a map guess have to be?
A tap counts as correct if it lands within roughly 2.5% of the board’s diagonal from the hidden point. Besides the world map, you can hide the target on any image from a direct .jpg, .png or .webp link.