Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Daily Hue?

The Daily Hue is a free daily browser game about art and color. Each day features a real artwork from a museum or public collection. You guess one hidden color using hue, saturation, and lightness sliders — in up to five tries. When you finish, you unlock a gallery of other artworks that share that same color.

How do you play?

Move the three sliders to match the hidden color in the featured artwork. After each guess, arrows show where the answer could still lie — warmer or cooler for hue, more vivid or muted for saturation, lighter or darker for lightness. Match the color to unlock today's color gallery, or use all five guesses to see the answer and explore related art.

Is The Daily Hue free?

Yes. The Daily Hue is free to play in your browser on phones, tablets, and desktops. You can play as a guest or create a free account to save streaks, favorites, leaderboard scores, and collection progress.

Do I need an account to play?

No. You can play today's puzzle without signing in. An account lets you save streaks, favorites, leaderboard scores, and collection features. Past-day archive play requires sign-in so scores stay tied to your profile.

How is this different from Wordle?

Wordle is a word puzzle built around five-letter guesses. The Daily Hue is a color-and-art puzzle: you match a hue from a real artwork using sliders, not letters. Each day highlights a painting, sculpture, ceramic, or other medium from a museum collection, and finishing the puzzle unlocks a gallery of related artworks in that color.

What museums and artworks does The Daily Hue use?

Puzzles feature real artworks from museum and open collections, including sources such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Rijksmuseum, and Smithsonian, along with artist-submitted works. Attribution and museum credit appear with each piece.

What is the color gallery after I finish?

When you match the hidden color or use all five guesses, The Daily Hue unlocks a gallery of other artworks that share a similar hue to today's answer. Browse pieces, open details, and save favorites if you are signed in.

What are Collections?

Collections are themed sets of artworks on The Daily Hue. Curated collections group pieces by theme — for example a movement, medium, mood, or artist. Monthly collections let you replay every daily puzzle from a calendar month. Open Collections from the main menu to browse. Hover a tile to preview what is inside. Each artwork is its own color-matching challenge, similar to the daily puzzle. Playing today's daily puzzle is always free. Replaying past days or playing through a collection uses collection games when you are signed in.

How do collection games and bonus games work?

Signed-in players use collection games to play past daily puzzles and artworks in Collections. You own up to 20 collection games. +1 recharges every 48 hours while your collection + bonus total is below 20. Bonus games (from leaderboards, gifts, and promotions) go into a separate bonus pool — up to 10 — and are spent first. When your total games reach 20, collection recharge pauses until you play some off. Playing today's daily puzzle does not reduce this balance. Want unlimited access? Become a Curator. We will also regularly give out bonus games for:

What happens when I run out of games?

Today's daily puzzle is always free — it never uses your collection or bonus balance. Collection games recharge +1 every 48 hours until your playable total (collection + bonus) reaches 20. Bonus games are spent first whenever you play a collection challenge or archive day. You can also earn bonus games from rewards, gifts, and — when available — by watching ads on the Collections page. Curator members have unlimited collection play.

Can I watch ads for bonus games?

Signed-in players may see an option on the Collections page to watch a short ad in exchange for one bonus game, up to 3 times per day. Ad rewards go into your bonus pool (up to 10 stored) and are spent before collection games. If your bonus storage is full, you can still watch an ad but you will not receive a game until you play some off. Advertising may use cookies and requires your consent where required. You can manage ad preferences from the site footer. Curator members do not need ad rewards for play.

Do I need an account to use Collections?

You can browse Collections without signing in. To play past daily puzzles or collection artworks — and to save your progress, scores, and completion counts — you need a free account. Guests can always play today's daily puzzle without signing in.

How do streaks and the leaderboard work?

If you create an account, The Daily Hue tracks your daily play streak when you finish today's puzzle. The daily leaderboard ranks signed-in players by best score, then fewest guesses, then fastest completion time, then who finished first if times tie. Guests may see a preview of where they would rank but are not shown publicly. The all-time board also requires sign-in (and opt-in). You do not need an account to play.

Is there an app?

The Daily Hue is a website optimized for phones and desktops — no app store download required. Add thedailyhue.com to your home screen on iOS or Android for quick access and play in your browser.

Who made The Daily Hue?

The Daily Hue is built by a small team focused on human-made art and everyday play. Read more on the About page or contact cade@thedailyhue.com.

What are badges?

Badges are rewards you earn through gameplay. They celebrate specific achievements — like a fast win, a sharp first guess, or playing your hundredth game — and let you show a little personality on the leaderboard.

Who can earn badges?

Anyone with a free Daily Hue account can earn and collect badges. You do not need Curator membership to unlock most badges. Sign in so your progress is saved across phones, tablets, and computers.

How do I earn badges?

Badges unlock automatically from your play history. Examples: Sharp Eye — win five games on your first guess; Play 100 games — complete 100 daily puzzles; Be a Curator — join Curator membership. Tap any badge in Settings to see how to earn it. Coming-soon badges appear in a separate row below the ones you can earn today.

Where do I view my badges?

Open Settings & Preferences (from the menu when you are signed in). Your badge collection appears near the top of the page. Locked badges stay visible so you can see what to work toward; unlocked badges are full color.

How do I choose which badges show on the leaderboard?

In Settings, drag unlocked badges into the Left, Center, or Right slots — or tap a badge to add or remove it. You can display up to three badges next to your name on the daily and all-time leaderboards. Only badges you have earned can be shown.

Why haven't I unlocked a badge yet?

Each badge has a specific requirement. Hover or tap a locked badge in Settings to read the unlock hint. Stats count completed daily games tied to your account — if you played as a guest before signing up, those rounds may not count. Some badges that are not released yet cannot be earned until they launch.

Do badges apply to past games I already played?

Yes, for most badges. When we check your account, we look at your saved game history — so a long-time player may unlock 100 Games or Sharp Eye as soon as badges appear, without replaying old puzzles. Future badges may only count activity after they are introduced; we will say so when that applies.

Can I earn the same badge more than once?

No. Each badge is a one-time achievement on your profile. You can still repeat the feat in gameplay — for example, many first-guess wins — but the badge itself unlocks once.

Will I lose my badges if I switch devices?

No, as long as you stay signed in to the same account. Badges and your chosen leaderboard display slots are stored with your profile, not on a single device.