Hertl

About Hertl

Hertl is an NHL take on Poeltl, the NBA player guessing game from Dunktown, and its How to Play box credits that game as the inspiration. It is made by Bradley Connolly, who asks players to contact him on Twitter and runs a Ko-fi page for the game. Its share text numbers each day's game, counting from March 2022.

Each day there is one mystery player, chosen from active NHL players and the same for everyone, and a new one arrives at midnight Eastern time. You type a name into the guess box and pick it from the list. The guess appears as a row with seven columns: team, conference, division, position, age, nation and number. A green cell is a match, a yellow cell is close and a grey one is not.

The close cells carry the most information. A yellow team means the mystery player once played for the team of the player you guessed. Age and jersey number turn yellow when they are near, within two years or three numbers, and show an arrow telling you whether to go higher or lower. If you are stuck, the Show Silhouette button shows the outline of the player's head and shoulders. You have eight guesses, and at the end the game shows the player's photo and lets you copy a grid of coloured squares to share.

A second mode, reached from the infinity sign at the top of the page, gives a fresh random player each time with Play Again, so you can practise after the daily game. A stats panel keeps your record for the daily game. It suits hockey fans who follow rosters and trades across the league.

How to play Hertl

1. Open Hertl and start typing the name of any active NHL player in the guess box.
2. Pick the player from the list to make your guess.
3. Read the row that appears: green cells match the mystery player, yellow cells are close, grey cells are wrong.
4. Use the arrows on age and number to go higher or lower, and a yellow team to look at players who used to play there.
5. Find the player within eight guesses, then share your grid or switch to unlimited mode.

Screenshots

Tips

• Open with a player whose team sits in a division you can test, since conference and division narrow the field quickly.
• A yellow team cell points to a player who has moved, so think of recent trades and signings for that club.
• The arrow on jersey number is often the quickest way to settle between two players on the same team.
• Keep the silhouette for when you are down to a few names; it shows only the outline of the head and shoulders.

Questions