When do abilities come back?

Whichever you choose. Once a game is the default, and Refill everything is the button that does it. Every round refills them the moment you tap New round, which suits games where the same trick is available every turn but only once within it. Both rules leave the Refill everything button working, so a game can break its own rule when the table decides to.

What are the symbols for?

Telling one token from another at a glance across a table. There are twenty of them, all simple shapes, and they are decoration rather than meaning: every token also carries its name in words and its remaining uses as a number, so nothing depends on recognising a shape or seeing a colour.

Can somebody have different abilities from everybody else?

Not on this page. The list is shared and everybody gets the same set with their own uses of each, which is what most games with abilities actually do. Giving one player something the others do not have is a role rather than an ability, and the secret role cards are the page for that.

What happens if I give an ability an extra use mid-game?

Everybody gets the extra use, including people who had already run out. The tool counts what has been spent rather than what is left, so changing the number of uses changes the ceiling and leaves the history alone. That is usually what you want when a house rule is agreed halfway through.

Does it remember the abilities I wrote?

Yes. The abilities, the uses, the symbols and what everybody has spent are kept in this browser, so a game survives a refresh or a locked phone. Nothing is uploaded, and a share link carries only the refill rule, never your ability names.

★ Step right up · free forever ★

Power-ups

Each player holds a few abilities with a number of uses. Spend one, and the token flips face down.

Made by the PaperCarnival team · Updated 2026-09-22

Nobody playing yet

Add names in the Players tab. Everybody gets the same set of abilities, and a token flips face down when it is spent.

Players

No players yet. Type a name and press Add.

Everybody gets the same set of abilities, with their own uses of each.

Names stay in this browser. They are never put in a link, and every tool with players reads the same list.

N new round · R refill everything

No signup · No accounts · Free forever

Bolting abilities onto a game that has none

A limited use is one of the cheapest ways to make a simple game interesting. Give everybody one reroll, one swap and one steal for the whole game and a plain race becomes a game of timing: the reroll is worth most when you save it, and saving it is hard. The rule takes ten seconds to explain and needs no new components, which is why it turns up in so many games under so many names.

Everybody here holds the same set. That is deliberate: an ability that only one person has is a role, and a role has to be dealt out in private rather than displayed on a shared screen. The secret role cards do that properly, with the pass-around screen that shows each person their own card and nobody else's.

Kept in this browser under pph.power.abilities, pph.power.state, pph.power.muted and pph.players, and nowhere else. Accounts, printing, storage and what the page loads are answered on the FAQ.

Questions

When do abilities come back?: Whichever you choose. Once a game is the default, and Refill everything is the button that does it. Every round refills them the moment you tap New round, which suits games where the same trick is available every turn but only once within it. Both rules leave the Refill everything button working, so a game can break its own rule when the table decides to.
What are the symbols for?: Telling one token from another at a glance across a table. There are twenty of them, all simple shapes, and they are decoration rather than meaning: every token also carries its name in words and its remaining uses as a number, so nothing depends on recognising a shape or seeing a colour.
Can somebody have different abilities from everybody else?: Not on this page. The list is shared and everybody gets the same set with their own uses of each, which is what most games with abilities actually do. Giving one player something the others do not have is a role rather than an ability, and the secret role cards are the page for that.
What happens if I give an ability an extra use mid-game?: Everybody gets the extra use, including people who had already run out. The tool counts what has been spent rather than what is left, so changing the number of uses changes the ceiling and leaves the history alone. That is usually what you want when a house rule is agreed halfway through.
Does it remember the abilities I wrote?: Yes. The abilities, the uses, the symbols and what everybody has spent are kept in this browser, so a game survives a refresh or a locked phone. Nothing is uploaded, and a share link carries only the refill rule, never your ability names.

Power-ups

Bolting abilities onto a game that has none

Questions

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