ClapOut FAQ

Yes. The whole game is free: every card, every house rule, the bots, private tables for friends and voice chat. You do not need an account to play. Tables are played for a small stake of Claps, the game's own play currency, and the game hands Claps out for free — a welcome grant, a daily allowance, the Clap Catch mini-game and optional videos. You can buy Claps or join the Club if you want to, but nobody ever has to. There is more in Claps, the Club and the store.

No. ClapOut runs in your web browser. Open clapout.app, type a name and you are at a table. There is no app to download, no app store and no sign-up form.

A table seats two to six players. The lobby always shows how many seats your table has, for example "3 of 6 seats". Any seat without a person in it can take a bot.

By default a game is a single round: the first player to empty their hand wins. With ten seconds on every turn, a round moves along briskly and is usually over in minutes. If you want an evening's worth, switch on the Long game house rule, where rounds are scored and the first player to 500 points wins.

Yes. Tap Quick play and ClapOut looks for real players first; if your table has not filled after 20 seconds, bots take the empty seats and the game starts. You can also host a table and add bots yourself from the lobby, one of each: Nana, Rocket, Sly and Chaos. Each plays differently, and Meet the bots explains how.

Refresh the page. Your browser remembers your seat, so a refresh, or opening the table's link again, puts you back in the same seat with the same hand. While you are gone, your seat is marked as away and the game carries on: when your turn clock runs out, the table moves for you.

Ten seconds by default, which is plenty once you know the game. The host can make it fifteen, thirty or sixty seconds in the lobby, and thirty is a kind choice for a table of first-timers. If the clock runs out, the table acts for you: it draws you a card and passes, names the element you hold most of, or declines a Storm challenge, depending on what you were due to do.

Two things. The four suits are elements that act on each other, so changing the pile's suit can cost someone a card. And when a play leaves you with one card, you clap — by tapping CLAP, or by clapping out loud if you have turned the microphone on — before anyone catches you.

The four suits: Ember, Sol, Tide and Dusk. They form a ring — Tide douses Ember, Ember lights Dusk, Dusk sets Sol, Sol dries Tide. When your card changes the pile's element, it clashes: if your element beats the old one, the next player draws one card; if it loses, you draw one. Three of the same element in a row is a Surge, and whoever landed the third may shed one more. The four elements has worked examples of every case.

Once the next player plays or draws, you become catchable, and anyone at the table can catch you. A catch costs you two cards. But it is not over yet: a late clap, made before anyone catches you, makes you safe again. The bots are quick, though — Rocket pounces on anyone catchable — so the best habit is to clap the moment your second-to-last card leaves your hand.

No. A catch costs the catcher nothing, right or wrong, and a catch aimed at someone who is not catchable is simply ignored. So if you think someone has forgotten, go for it.

Yes. The elements are on by default, but they are a house rule the host can switch off in the lobby. With them off, an element is only a colour to match and ClapOut plays like the classic shedding game, plus the clap. That can be a good start for a very first game with young children.

The host can switch on Stacking, Jump-in, Seven-zero, Draw to match, Force play, Storm challenge, the Long game and the Twist pack, as well as switching the elements off and changing the turn timer. House rules explains each one and suggests combinations that work well together.

In the game itself: tap the Rule book button on the join screen or at the table and it opens over whatever you are doing, page by page. On this website, How to play has every rule the table enforces, with tables and a walkthrough of a first game.

Host a table and the lobby shows its invite link, with the table's code in big letters. Tap to share it through your phone's share sheet or copy it, then send it however you like. A friend who opens the link lands with the code already filled in, types a name and is at your table. Play with friends walks through it.

Four letters that name your table. It is also the end of the invite link, so a table called ABCD lives at clapout.app/ABCD. Friends can open that link, or type the four letters on the join screen.

Yes, and it is one of the best ways to play. Everyone uses their own phone, so every hand stays private, and the clap race is even louder when it is real. For friends further away, turn on voice chat and talk as you play. Family game night has tips for a mixed-age table.

Yes. During voice chat, tap another player's seat and you can mute them for yourself. They are not told, and it only changes what your phone plays, so everyone else still hears them.

The table closes, and everyone sees a note that the host left. The host can close a table on purpose from the lobby, and any guest can leave with "Leave the table".

Claps are ClapOut's play currency. Each game has a small stake of Claps and the winner takes the pot. You get Claps for free every day, and you can earn more in the Clap Catch mini-game or by choosing to watch a short video. Claps have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for money.

You are never stuck. When you are running low, the game tells you and offers the free ways to top up: your daily allowance, a round of Clap Catch, or a rewarded video if you choose to watch one. Buying Claps is one option among these, never the only one.

No. No pack of Claps and no Club membership changes the rules or the cards you are dealt. Every player plays by the same rules, and the table enforces them for everyone alike.

An optional monthly membership. Club members play with no stake and no ads. The price is shown in the store before you join, and payments are handled by Stripe.

You can cancel at any time: email us at connect@mikehaye.com from the address on your Stripe receipt, or tell us the name you play under, and we will cancel it for you. Cancelling stops the next renewal, and your Club benefits last until the end of the period you have paid for.

No. You can play every part of ClapOut with just a name. Your Claps are kept with a player id stored in your browser.

To keep your Claps and purchases safe and take them to another phone. Signing in is optional and never needs a password: continue with Google, continue with Apple, or ask for a sign-in link by email. Without signing in, clearing your browser's data can lose your Claps.

Only if you turn it on, and only to hear claps. Clap detection runs on your phone: it listens for the sharp sound of a clap, and no sound is recorded or sent anywhere — only the clap itself counts, just like a tap. If you would rather not use the microphone, tap CLAP instead; it works exactly the same.

No. Voice chat is optional and live: when you turn your mic on at a table, your voice goes straight to the other players at that table, and it is not recorded. While your voice mic is muted, your phone does not hold the microphone at all.

In the game, the only ads are optional rewarded videos: you tap to watch one in return for free Claps, and you never see one in the middle of a turn. The guide pages on this website may also carry ads. Our privacy policy explains how advertising and cookies work and how to opt out of personalised ads.

Any modern phone browser, such as Safari on an iPhone or Chrome on an Android phone. The table lays itself out in both portrait and landscape, so hold your phone whichever way is comfortable.

Yes. ClapOut is designed for phones first, but desktop browsers work too. It is handy if you would rather play at your desk, and friends on phones can join the same table.