Meet the bots: Nana, Rocket, Sly and Chaos

Four computer players, four ways of playing the same cards. Here is who they are, how each one thinks, and how to beat them.

By the ClapOut team · Updated 28 September 2026 · 7 min read

ClapOut's bots are not four difficulty levels. They are four characters, built on the same player and tuned with different habits: one plays whatever comes to hand, one fires every action card it can, one plays the long game, and one plays at random. Knowing which is which is half of beating them.

They also play fair. A bot sees only what a player sees — its own hand, the pile, and how many cards every seat is holding. It never sees your cards or the order of the draw pile. It follows the same rules as everyone else, including whatever house rules the host has switched on, and it claps and catches like a person does, with its own reliability.

Where you will meet them

Quick play looks for real players first. If the table is not full after 20 seconds, bots join to fill it, and the deal comes.

Hosting a table gives you the choice. You get a four-letter code to share, and in the lobby the host can add bots to any empty seats — one of each, so a table can have Nana, Rocket, Sly and Chaos but never two Nanas. A table seats up to six. The host can remove a bot again before pressing Start. See Host a table for the rest of the lobby.

The four at a glance

One habit they share: when a bot lands the third card of a Surge and holds a number of that element, it always sheds it. If your play puts two of an element in a row and a bot is next, assume it will take the bonus if it can.

Nana

Nana is the round one with the silver bun and the half-moon spectacles she peers over. She is the gentlest seat at the table, and the one a new player should be glad to see.

How she plays. Nana does not plan. She plays the first legal card she finds in her hand, with one piece of sense: she never picks a card that would fizzle when another card would play. She will spend a Toss or a Prism as readily as a 2, and she does not go looking for an overpower. She never catches anyone, and three times in ten she forgets to clap on her last card.

How to beat her.

• Catch her. When her count drops to one, look for the chance: she misses the clap often enough that it is always worth a try, and a catch costs you nothing if she did clap.
• Read her draws. Because Nana always plays when she can, a draw from her means she had nothing legal. If she draws on Tide, the next time the pile is Tide she is probably stuck again.
• Do not relax because she never catches. The other seats will still catch you if you forget.

Rocket

Rocket wears goggles pushed up on his forehead, jet-pack straps and a swept-back crest of gold hair, and he plays exactly as he looks: fast and loud.

How he plays. Given a choice, Rocket plays an action card: a Storm first, then a Toss, a Hush, a Rewind, then a wild, and only then a number. When he does play a number, he prefers one that overpowers the pile. He never forgets to clap, and he pounces on anyone catchable. Under the house rules that bring them in, he aims every Swap and every Seven-zero 7 at the seat holding the fewest cards, and with Storm challenge on he challenges every Storm.

How to beat him.

• Never miss a clap with Rocket at the table. If you are catchable, assume the two cards are coming.
• Watch the seat after him. Rocket's Hushes, Tosses and Storms land on whoever plays next, and they come as soon as he can play them, not when they would hurt most. If that seat is you, keep your count healthy while he is still holding cards.
• Expect him to run short of escapes. Rocket plays a wild before he plays a number, so he rarely keeps one back. When he is low, a well-chosen change of element is more likely to leave him drawing than it would Sly.
• Under Storm challenge, never bluff a Storm at him — he will call it, and you will draw the four. Play an honest Storm, and his challenge costs him six.
• Under Seven-zero or the Twist pack, the seat with the fewest cards is his target: a 7 or a Swap from Rocket trades his hand for yours. If you are the lowest seat and he holds one, expect it.

Sly

Sly is the tall one under the wide-brimmed hat, with half-lidded eyes, a one-sided smirk and a fan of cards in his hand. He is the most patient player at the table.

How he plays. Sly hoards his wilds. He keeps every Prism and Storm until he is down to three cards or fewer, and he plays so as to keep a spread of elements in his hand. He prefers an overpower to a neutral card, and he never picks a fizzle when another card would play. He never forgets to clap, and he catches a catchable seat about half the time.

How to beat him.

• Watch for three cards. That is when his saved wilds come out, and a Storm hits the next seat. Treat Sly on three as more dangerous than most players on two.
• Hit him with draws, not with element changes. Because he keeps a spread of elements, switching the pile rarely strands him. A Hush, a Toss or an overpower aimed at him while he sits next in line does more.
• Expect his overpowers. Sly picks the card that makes the next seat draw, so the player after him will draw more often than the player after Nana.
• In the Long game, go out early. While Sly holds more than three cards he may be sitting on wilds, and every Prism or Storm left in his hand scores 50 for the round's winner.

Chaos

Chaos is the lopsided one: a party hat tipped off one side of his head, hair spiking out of the other, and mismatched eyes. He is exactly as predictable as he looks.

How he plays. Chaos plays a random legal card and ignores the elements completely, so he overpowers by accident and fizzles by accident too. He forgets to clap one time in ten, and he catches a catchable seat half the time. Like every bot, he takes a Surge bonus when he has a number to shed.

How to beat him.

• Do not try to read his cards; watch his count instead. His play tells you little, but how many cards he holds tells you when to aim a Hush or a Toss his way.
• Read his draws the same way as Nana's: Chaos plays a random card from the ones that are legal, so he only draws when nothing plays.
• Let his fizzles work for you. Now and then he picks a fizzle when a safer card would have played, and each one hands him a card.
• Catch him when you can. It is only one time in ten, but it costs you nothing to check.