How do you play Guess Who?
Quick answer
Guess Who? is a two-player guessing game. Each player secretly picks one of 24 characters, then players take turns asking yes-or-no questions (“Does your person wear glasses?”) and flipping down faces that don’t match. The first player to correctly name the opponent’s character wins.
How to play
- Set upEach player stands all 24 faces up on their board and secretly draws or chooses a mystery character card.
- Ask a questionOn your turn, ask one yes-or-no question about your opponent’s character, such as ‘Does your person have a hat?’
- Flip downBased on the answer, flip down every face on your board that can’t be the mystery person.
- GuessInstead of asking a question, you can use your turn to guess a name. A wrong guess usually means you lose.
The best strategy
The smartest questions split the remaining faces as close to half and half as possible. If you ask about a feature only one or two characters have, you’ll usually eliminate just a couple of faces.
| Question type | Typical result |
|---|---|
| “Is your person a man?” (in classic sets) | Splits the board unevenly, since most faces are men |
| “Does your person have a hat?” | Eliminates only a few faces most of the time |
| Combined question: “Does your person have blond hair or glasses?” | Can split close to half, if house rules allow it |
Mathematicians have shown that halving each time lets you find the answer from 24 faces in about 5 questions (24 → 12 → 6 → 3 → 2 → 1).
A short history
The game was created by the British company Theora Design and released by Milton Bradley in 1979. It’s now made by Hasbro, the owner of Milton Bradley, with new character sets over the years, plus travel, card and themed editions with characters from films and TV.
Early versions had far more men than women among the characters, and modern sets have been redesigned to be more balanced and diverse.
Variations to try
- Draw your own faces of friends and family.
- Play with themed sets, such as animals or famous people.
- Kids’ rule: let younger players ask two questions per turn.
Love logic games? Try how to solve a Rubik’s Cube, or play the AI word game What Beats Rock.
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