Game Pigeon 20 Questions To Ask

If there’s one game every couple should play, it’s definitely the 21 questions game. Not only is this a really great way to start a conversation if you can’t think of an idea, but you will also.

20 Questions

Thanks for taking a look at this monograph on the parlor game of Twenty Questions, which at times is referred to at the Wikipedia article HERE. Immediately below is an outline, followed by the main document and the appendix. In the column to the right is more information about how to get around around here.

THE GAME OF TWENTY QUESTIONS

Have fun with your friends by playing a collection of excellent two-player games! GamePigeon is an iMessage extension which features following games: 8-Ball Poker Sea Battle Anagrams Gomoku More games are coming very soon! Contact twitter presskit. To play Sea Battle on iPhone, you need to have the GamePigeon application installed and toggled on. Then, you need to find a willing opponent. The game can last a long time if you aren’t smart about the way you play. A lot of GamePigeon Sea Battle strategy will revolve around offense. Sea battle calculator game pigeon tn.

Before the game begins, place the board between you and your opponent, long side facing you. You will see two rows of six 'holes', with a long 'mancala' on each end. The board is divided into two parts: Your side and mancala, and your opponent's side and mancala. Your side is the six holes closest to you, and your mancala is to your right. GamePigeon How to capture on mancala. Or press Command + Shift + 4 and press down and drag the mouse over the area you'd like to capture. To take a screenshot with your iPhone or iPod Touch, press and hold the sleep/wake button and then click the Home button. Topic GamePigeon: How to play filter on game pigeon started New Topic. In most mancala games, the capture of seeds is an important feature of the game. Some games also allow the capture of holes. 1 Capturing Seeds 1.1 (1) Capturing the Contents of the Last Hole 1.1.1 (A) Particular Numbers 1.1.2 (B) Odd and Even 1.2 (2) Capturing by Opposition 1.2.1 (A) Seeds Opposite to an Empty Hole 1.2.2 (B) Seeds Opposite to an Occupied Hole 1.3 (3) Capturing Seeds from. How do you capture in mancala on game pigeon free.

Introduction
--Object of the game
The Two Rules
Rule #1: Questioners ask Yes-or-No questions
Rule #2: Answerer responds with a Yes or a No
--The two exceptions to Rule #2
'I don't know.'
'I can't answer.'
Animal, Vegetable or Mineral?
Targets made of plastic
Targets made of more than one substance
Sampler of Beginning Questions
Unique thing or class of things?
Changing targets on the fly
Alive or dead? Long-dead?
Single homogeneous substance
Parts? How many? Moving parts?
Size?
Shape?
Worked by man?
Where found?
Disposable?
Associated especially with sports, etc.?
Decorative? Functional?
More on Rule #2
Have I ever seen one?
Used more by one class?
Skill in Choosing the Target
Novices Ask Good Questions in a Bad Way
Confusing degree with comparison
Not using 'usually'
Appendix (for real-time online play)
Answers must make sense out of context and order
'Give us a hint.'
All CAPS
String-spitting macros
Revealing the target in a private message
It's '20 Questions,' not 20 questions
How to count to 20
Who starts the next round?

INTRODUCTION

Twenty Questions is a game you can play at a party or to kill time on a road trip. It requires no board or pieces, nor paper or pencil. All it requires is at least two humans communicating. It can also be played online.
20 QUESTIONS IS A GAME IN WHICH ONE PERSON IN THE GROUP THINKS OF AN OBJECT OR SUBSTANCE AND THE OTHER PEOPLE ASK HIM YES-OR-NO QUESTIONS ABOUT IT UNTIL THEY DETERMINE WHAT IT IS.
Part of the fun is in the sober cerebral exertion of trying to guess what the thing is in as few questions as possible, and part of the fun is that this game inherently lends itself to being silly. In this document I'll explain the two simple rules of the game, then I'll ramble off into some thoughts about how to play it well if you want to. The silliness part is up to you. Personally, I detest silliness and think everyone who behaves sillily should be taken out back and whomped once or twice with a warm walleye.

Hereafter we'll refer to the questioner(s) as 'Q,' and we'll refer to the person giving the yes-or-no answer as 'A.' We'll refer to the thing A is thinking of as the TARGET that Q is trying to name.

(This game is well suited to real-time play via an Internet connection of some sort. The only necessary ingredients are a reasonably experienced host, at least one other player, and a reasonably quick interface. Typically the way it works is that the Qs, however many there are, shoot questions at the agreed-upon A, who answers them as quickly as possible. See the Appendix for additional information about playing online.)

THE TWO RULES

There are only two fundamental rules, one for Q and one for A.

Rule #1: Q may only ask questions that can be answered with a yes or a no.
Rule #2: A may only respond with a yes or a no, whichever will be more helpful to Q.

Ideally, these two basic rules will sustain a complete and competitive game of 20 Questions, but the ideal is rarely achieved, especially when some of the players are novices. There is a learning curve (albeit a quick and easy one) to jump on and ride, and there are exceptional situations that, once recognized and categorized, can be responded to by convention.

Also, it is your unalienable right to alter or abolish these rules at will. As long as everyone understands and agrees to the new rules, they should be whatever you want them to be.

Rule #2 above is a good one -- the official one, I suppose -- but it's impossible to follow all the time. Here are two exceptional acceptable answers that A (and Q) should keep in mind:
--'I DON'T KNOW.' Sometimes A simply will not know the answer, even though if he knew it he could answer yes or no. In such cases A may respond with 'I don't know.'
As an example, consider that A has chosen the Rock of Gibraltar as the target and Q asks, 'Is it closer to London than is Svalbard?' If A doesn't know then he should not merely guess, because Q might know, and if A guesses wrong he will certainly mislead Q, which is a more serious violation of Rule #2. So, A should say he doesn't know and let Q take it from there.
--'I CAN'T ANSWER.' Sometimes A will properly determine that he's unable to answer a particular question with a definitive yes or a no, even though he is not ignorant of any facts as in the example above. In such cases he may respond with the generic phrase 'I can't answer.'

An example will clarify the intent of this guideline: If the target is hamster collars and the question is 'Are they worn more by men than women?' then A simply cannot answer, because the question assumes a fact -- that men or women wear hamster collars -- that is false. When the Qs hear this answer they are advised to analyze the exact wording of the question. In this example it will likely lead them to realize that neither men nor women wear them, which is a big step forward.

(Also note that if A had been a real stickler he may have legitimately answered No to that question, because, in fact, hamster collars are not, strictly speaking, worn more by men than women.)

Here's a different reason for A to respond with 'I can't answer.' If the target is a golf ball and the question is 'Is it bigger than a golf ball?' then A will almost certainly mislead Q whether he answers yes or he answers no, which is a more serious violation of Rule #2. Therefore he may simply state that he can't answer. Game pigeon app parent review. It's then up to Q to figure out what that means.

(Also note that if A had been a real stickler he may have legitimately answered No to that question, because a golf ball is not, strictly speaking, I suppose, bigger than a golf ball, the implication being that Q should have asked, 'Is it bigger than or equal to the size of a golf ball?')

ANIMAL, VEGETABLE OR MINERAL?

Traditionally, Q's first question (the only one Q may ask that does not allow for a Yes or No answer) is always the same: 'Is it animal, vegetable or mineral?' Indeed, in certain parts of the world this game is known as 'Animal, Vegetable, Mineral.'
The two important points above are that

all legitimate targets will fall into one of these three categories or a combination thereof, and
A must choose a legitimate target.

One kind of illegitimate target is an object whose very existence is in question, such as unicorns or God, because A will be forced to answer Q's yes-or-no questions based on mere belief rather than factual knowledge that can certainly be shared. Another example of an illegitimate target is something that has no literal or even literary corporeal existence such as patriotism or haste or the number 6.
It's sometimes difficult for A to decide whether to respond with 'animal,' 'vegetable,' or 'mineral,' so here are some examples and other thoughts that might provide help to both A and Q.
To begin with, anything that's never been alive is mineral, and everything else must therefore be either animal or vegetable.

Let me interrupt to go ahead and try to get this right. Most taxonomists classify life on Earth into five kingdoms, two of which are Animalia (animal) and Plantae (vegetable). The other three are Monera (e.g., bacteria), Protista (e.g., protozoans) and Fungi (e.g., yeasts). Only once in all my experience has an A chosen a target that fell into one of those last three kingda (Hi, KJ). So, if your target is those nasty-tasting mushrooms you got back in college and a Q starts by asking, 'So, what is it? Animal, vegetable or mineral?' you should respond with 'I can't answer,' because mushrooms are none of the three above. It is then up to the Qs to follow up. In any case, all such organisms are, of course, legitimate targets.

Here are three examples:

If you've chosen as your target the clock inside London's Big Ben, you should answer, 'Mineral,' because the clock parts are made of steel and brass and copper and so on, which are minerals.
If you've chosen as your target the wool sweater you're wearing, you should say, 'Animal,' because it's made of wool, which comes from sheeps, which am animal.
And if you've chosen the T-shirt that your date is wearing, you should say, 'Vegetable,' because it's made of cotton, which is a plant.

TARGETS MADE OF PLASTIC. Targets made of plastic (floppy disks and trash bags) and other such petroleum-based products (nylon and gasoline) are impossible to classify as animal or vegetable because it is still uncertain in the scientific community whether petroleum comes from dead animals or dead plants (although the most recent evidence I know of, circa 2008, suggests it's both). Therefore, by arbitrary convention, if your target is made from petroleum products you should say, 'Vegetable,' and as long as Q is aware of this convention, it is then his responsibility to think of asking, 'Is it made of plastic?' or some such question. For that matter, even if Q doesn't know this convention, it's still up to him to pursue the 'plastic' question.
TARGETS MADE OF MORE THAN ONE SUBSTANCE. Often A will choose a target that's made of, say, both vegetable and mineral -- for example, a pencil, which is made of wood and an eraser and paint (vegetables) as well as graphite and a metal ferrule (minerals). In this case, A might say 'Vegetable' because a pencil is more vegetable than mineral, although if he said, 'I can't answer' that would be OK too. As another example, if A's target is a floppy disk, then he should probably say 'Vegetable,' (plastic) despite the fact that a minuscule but fundamental portion of the total mass of the target is actually iron oxide (rust), a mineral.
In any case, A may declare only one of the three possible substances, so no matter what A declares it's up to Q, if he wants to, to determine more precisely what substance A's target is made of.
For the novice who didn't read all the paragraphs above, it's important to understand that when A says, say, 'Vegetable,' that doesn't necessarily mean that the target is a vegetable such as a carrot. Similarly, the answer 'Animal' doesn't necessarily mean that the target is an animal such as a platypus. And, of course, the answer 'Mineral' doesn't necessarily mean that the target is a lump of iron or a pile of sand. The question 'Animal, vegetable or mineral?,' as seasoned 20 Questions players know, asks about the primary substance of which the target is made, and every legitimate target, i.e., every possible object or substance in the universe, will be made entirely of animal, vegetable or mineral or any of the four combinations thereof.

A SAMPLER OF BEGINNING QUESTIONS

To the novice it might seem Q has an impossible task -- to name the exact target A has chosen among the many trillions of such potential targets that exist. However, those many trillions can immediately be reduced to mere billions and then mere hundreds and then mere dozens and then even eventually to the one true answer by using the device of dividing the universe.
Generally, then, Q's job is to divide up the universe as efficiently as he can, so that each new answer from A rules out as many of the remaining targets as possible. (But Q should not embark on a series of questions such as 'Does it start with the letter S?' This method of tracking down the target must eventually succeed, but it's a lot of work with no fun.)
As an example, if Q has learned that the target is living, is human, and is famous, then the next question should certainly be whether the living, famous, human is male or female. Whichever answer A gives, it will have the desirable effect of ruling out as many of the remaining targets as possible. If you continue to rule out portions of the remaining possible targets, you must eventually determine what the particular target is.
As a more specific example, if as Q you've learned that the target is made of a metal, don't ask whether it's gold or mercury, or whether it's steel or bronze, till you've asked whether it's made entirely of an element.
Here's a list of questions Q might consider asking early on in the game.

'Are you thinking of a unique thing in the world, or are you thinking of a class of things?'

It's really helpful to determine immediately whether A is thinking of a single thing in the entire universe or merely some group of things without regard to a particular example of that group. For example, if A has chosen nipples as his target, that's a class, whereas the left nipple of Sigourney Weaver is a unique thing (actual game example played by my brother and me, which I never did guess). If the target is riverbanks, that's a class, whereas the Left Bank of the Seine is a unique thing (in this most famous example of a game played on the celebrity panel television show called '20 Questions' back in the late '50s, this target was guessed in only seven questions). To see the left nipple of Sigourney Weaver I photographed from a TV screen showing a movie on Flix I watched whose name I don't remember, click here and be prepared to see a real bare-breasted woman. Well, OK, a photograph of a TV screen showing a movie of a real bare-breasted woman.

CHANGING TARGETS ON THE FLY. Sometimes A must change targets on the fly, as it were, depending on the questions he gets from Q. For example, once when I chose a golf tee as my target, a Q started asking color questions early on, before he had asked whether the target was a unique thing or a class of things. When he asked, 'Is it red?' I had to decide (without telling him I was doing so, of course) whether my target was a particular golf tee (say, the red, plastic one that got stuck in my ear a few years ago as a result of an unusual fireworks accident and which I fully intend to remove sometime soon), or just golf tees in general, or just white golf tees. I decided against a particular golf tee because that seemed too difficult, and I decided against any color other than white because the single most common color of golf tees is in fact white. Consequently, in answer to the question, 'Is it red?,' I said no. Later I was asked whether the target was plastic, and, although there are such things as plastic golf tees, I decided to narrow my target down again, this time to wooden golf tees.
So, as you can see in this example, while I had originally thought of 'golf tee' as my target, I later refined the definition to 'any old, white, wooden golf tee,' even though Q never knew I had effectively changed the target on the fly. The novice A will fail to recognize that he may change the target on the fly (as long as he does it without contradicting any previous answers, of course), and the result is that his definition of the target starts to expand beyond his original intent, e.g., he ends up defining it in his own head as 'any red or white golf tee that's made of plastic or wood or maybe something else, and -- yeah, now that I think about it -- maybe blue ones, too . . . '
This distinction between a unique target and a class of targets is important yet it's often overlooked by the novice Q and the novice A, which can result in a considerable waste of time.
Another tip on this subject: If A says he's thinking of a unique thing, Q should find himself asking questions like, 'IS IT found in the eastern time zone?' and 'DOES IT connect to something else when you use IT?' rather than, 'ARE THEY typically found in kitchens more than anywhere else?' and 'Do people typically use THEM outdoors more often than indoors?'

'Is it alive or dead?'

Of course, this question applies only if A says the target is animal or vegetable rather than mineral, but thereafter it helps to distinguish between the left nipple of Albert Schweitzer (dead) and the left nipple of Sigourney Weaver (alive). (If Sigourney Weaver dies before I do and I don't get this page updated, please .)

'Is it long dead?'

If the answer to the 'Alive or dead?' question is 'Dead,' then a series of follow-up questions might focus on whether the target has been dead for centuries (a plastic trash bag) or not (Albert Schweitzer's left nipple).

'Is it a single homogenous substance?'

For example, a watch crystal is a single homogeneous substance, so if the answer to this question is Yes then Q need not consider the possibility that the target is anything so complicated as an entire watch, or even a kitchen match.
Furthermore, if the answer is Yes then Q might well want immediately to ask follow-up questions about precisely what substance it is: 'Is it solid or fluid?' If fluid, 'Is it liquid or gas?' 'Is it an element on the periodic table?' 'Is it a metal?' 'Is it bronze?' 'Is it plastic?'

'Does it have parts?' 'How many?'
'Does it have moving parts?'

'Does it have parts?' is a little different from 'Is it a single, homogeneous substance?' As an example, consider a stack of ice cubes in a glass. This target has parts, but it still consists of a single, homogeneous substance.
If the target has only one part, Q's universe of potential targets is greatly reduced. If it has more than one part, Q should attempt to determine whether the number of parts is closer to, say, four (your basic pencil) or four thousand (your basic car) or four million (your basic space shuttle).
And if it does have parts, ask whether it has moving parts. Here again, either answer rules out a lot of possibilities: A kitchen match has parts but no moving parts, whereas a lighter has both parts and moving parts.

If 'Animal, vegetable or mineral?' is the best-known question in 20 Questions, the second best-known is 'Is it bigger than a breadbox?'

(What's My Line? This exact starting question regarding the size of the target was popularized by Steve Allen, a regular early panelist on the game show What's My Line? The show ran weekly in the evenings for 18 years, from 1950 to 1967, which is still a record for a prime-time game show. As of 2008, where I live the show is in its second round of re-runs on the Game Show Network (GSN), and I record and watch every episode, and you should too. The premise involved the four panelists asking the various contestants yes-or-no questions to determine their various and usually unexpected occupations, hence the title. If you watch more than a few episodes you'll note that Arlene Francis and Bennett Cerf are way better than any of the other panelists except that Dorothy Kilgallen is way better than them. She had a way of figuring things out, using not just logic but all the little clues the other panelists missed, that was uncanny. What a brain.)

From here Q may move on to a softball, a golf ball, a penny, and the head of a pin in one direction and a desk, an elephant, the Sears Tower, and Norway in the other direction.

Pigeon games app. However, it will often happen that once Q gets within the approximate range of sizes, A will suddenly have difficulty answering whether the target is bigger than whatever Q asks about, which might tell Q that A is not having difficulty with the comparative sizes so much as with the comparative shapes.
For example, if A's target is a Frisbee and Q asks, 'Is it bigger than a softball?' then A is going to have difficulty giving an unequivocal yes-or-no answer despite the fact he and Q share the same understanding of how big Frisbees and softballs are. A thinks, 'A Frisbee is wider and deeper, but then again a softball is taller and more massive,' and so, because he may not mislead Q according to Rule #2, A will say, 'I can't answer.'
If this occurs, it is Q's responsibility to recognize that his series of 'bigger-than' questions might now be better shifted to 'shaped-like' questions such as 'Is it irregularly shaped?' 'Is it spherical?' 'Is it flat?' 'Is it rod-like?' 'Does it consist of three four-inch long cylindrical projections a half-inch in diameter, extending from a dodecahedron with a diameter of 20 centimeters, each projection of which forms a 60-degree angle with respect to the topmost face of the dodecahedron, with a 5,000-micron diameter hemispherical concavity centrally located on every fourth face and a 47-cubit doodad sticking out from the top, or not?'

(In one game some years back the clever A chose her target and I asked, 'Is it bigger than a breadbox?' She paused, she stared at the ceiling, and she scratched her head a bit, all the while murmuring to herself silently. Finally, in a tentative voice that suggested great uncertainty, she answered 'Yes.' It turns out she had tricked us into thinking it was a close call: Her target was the sun.)

'Is it worked (shaped, manufactured, altered) by man?'

Here, for instance, A would answer No if he's thinking of a seam of marble in the earth, whereas he'd answer Yes if he's thinking of Michelangelo's 17-foot-tall David.

Sample questions: 'Is it found (or 'are they found' in the case of a class of things, remember?) on Earth?, within a mile of here?, in this car? in a store?, in a hardware store?'
If Q determines that the target can be acquired (a bottle of Gatorade can be acquired, the Atlantic Ocean cannot), he might ask about how it can be acquired. For example, 'Can you go out and buy it?' 'Does it cost less than $100?' 'Would you expect to find it in a grocery?'

'Is it disposable?'

This one might seem too specific for this list of good general questions, but you will discover that it's particularly helpful for a surprising number of targets.

'Is it associated especially with sports, entertainment, transportation, communications, education, business, etc.?'

If Q gets an unequivocal answer to any of these questions, he can then home in on the purpose of the target.

'Is it decorative?' 'Is it functional?'

Some targets are purely decorative (rose tattoos), some targets are purely functional (boxing gloves), some targets are definitely both (a grandfather clock), and some targets are not especially either (Mars).
MORE ON RULE#2: The Second Rule says A must answer Yes or No in whichever way he thinks will be more helpful to Q. As Q you should realize that sometimes A forgets this rule or misinterprets it. Be careful how you ask a question such as 'Is it decorative?' and how you interpret the answer. If A hems and haws (or just hems, for that matter), you should ask follow-up questions such as 'Is it more decorative than functional?'
As an example, on a road trip in 1995 the A I was playing with said her target was decorative, which threw me off for the rest of that round; we arrived at our destination an hour later and I never did get it. It turns out that she had been thinking of the bales of hay in the fields past which we were driving. When I asked her why she said bales of hay are decorative, she told me about one time when she'd seen bunting draped on hay bales at a barn dance. If I'd only asked an obvious follow-up question such as, 'Is it decorative about one one-millionth of the time?' I'd have gotten back on track.

'Have I (or you) ever seen (or possessed, or used) one (or it)?'

Many targets exist that both Q and A might never have seen (the Great Wall of China), others exist that only one of you has seen (that brick and plywood bookcase you had in college), and still others exist that both of you have seen (the sun). Novice As tend to pick a target that only they are familiar with ('my wife's purse'); experienced Qs will remember this tendency.

'Is it used by [one class] more than another?'

Here, for example, Q might ask whether it's used more by men than women, more by adults than children, or more by lawyers than people you respect.

SKILL IN CHOOSING THE TARGET

To the inexperienced player it might seem that A has nothing more to do than choose any old target that happens to pop into his mind and then sit back and answer Yes or No, at that point leaving all the work to Q. However, as you play more you will discover that as A you need to stop to think pretty hard about whether the target you've chosen is indeed a good one -- one that will allow you to answer as many questions as possible with a definitive Yes or a No and that will give Q a fighting chance of eventually determining what it is you've thought of.
You already understand that as A you may not choose an incorporeal target such as voodoo or an essentially unknowable target such as UFOs, but you should also stop to consider other factors about your target, such as whether you yourself can answer Q's appropriate questions about it. For example, if you choose George Sand or Joyce Kilmer as your target, you had better know a fair bit about him, because if you don't then -- no matter how much Q happens to know about Ms. Sand or Mr. Kilmer -- he probably will never be able to succeed.
And remember that as A you can't stop in the middle of the game and say, 'Oh, gee, now that I think about it, I realize that I answered some of your earlier questions wrong.' You must give unequivocal answers in the first place, because Q may always expect that A's answers are accurate. If A decides he can't answer yes or no unequivocally, he must answer, 'I don't know' or 'I can't answer' (see above).
If you're a novice A you might find it helpful to review the example questions above to determine whether the target you choose is susceptible to as many unequivocal answers as possible.

NOVICES ASK GOOD QUESTIONS
IN A BAD WAY

Questions To Ask When Playing 20 Questions

As Q you should try to recognize the implications of imprecision or flawed reasoning in your questions. When you get an idea in your head about what you want to ask, take a moment to be sure you're asking that question and not a less specific one. Here are a few types of faulty questions that novice Qs frequently ask.
CONFUSING DEGREE WITH COMPARISON. A common reason novices get thrown off is that they ask questions of degree when they should ask questions of actual comparison. A's duty is to answer truthfully, so, for example, if Q asks, 'Is it soft?,' A's answer cannot possibly help unless he's thinking of a diamond, because everything is soft compared to a diamond. It's better for Q to ask a 'compared-to' question such as, 'Is it softer than talc?' or 'Is it harder than my Aunt Mabel's potato knishes?'
There's an almost unlimited number of ways to get this type of question wrong: 'Is it expensive?' 'Is it small?' 'Is it heavy?' 'Is it cold?' Whether A says Yes or No, the answer will almost never be useful to Q and is more likely to steer him into a dead end than onto the right exit ramp. (I confess that, when I'm A and I know the Qs are inexperienced, I do violate Rule #2 sometimes by answering 'Softer than a diamond' or 'Colder than your garden-variety supernova' rather than Yes or No, because I hope to point out, using this not-so-subtle form of sarcasm, that the players need to re-phrase their degree questions in terms of comparison.)
FAILING TO USE THE TERMS 'USUALLY' OR 'ESPECIALLY.' There's a big difference between 'Is it found in the home?' and 'Is it usually found in the home?'
Here's an example of the distinction. Assume the target is a gecko, which is a lizard that's featured in a wide range of sizes and has extraordinarily sticky feet that allow it to walk on ceilings. The call of the larger ones is strikingly like that of a dog's bark. They are fascinating creatures. OK, I'm back. Anyway, if Q asks, 'Is it found in the home?' A must answer Yes, because geckos are found in the home. In fact, they are found inside the walls of thousands of homes in the Philippines, where they are regarded with fondness as good-luck symbols. You hear them scrabbling around in the walls, racing after bugs, and after a while it becomes a pleasant background noise. OK, I'm back. Anyway, A knows that his answering Yes will almost certainly mislead the Qs into a fruitless series of questions about where in the home the target can be found, but he is obliged to answer truthfully the question that was asked, so he must say Yes. However, if Q asks, 'Is it USUALLY found in the home?' A may truthfully answer No, which means that whole series of dead-end questions may be avoided.
In the golf tee example above, a better question than 'Is it red?' would have been 'Are they usually red?'

Here are some examples of failing to use 'especially,' all from real games. The question given is the one that was actually asked; you decide how it could have been improved.

'Are they used by dentists?' The target was paper clips; the answer had to be Yes, which led to a series of fruitless questions about drills and false teeth and spit bowls.
'Are they used by children?' The target was Band-aids, so A had to answer Yes, which led to a bunch of wasted questions about Frisbees and rubber balls and Barbies.
'Are they found in Africa?' The target was ants. A said Yes, as he had to, and that led to ten minutes' worth of useless questions about giraffes and deserts and okapis.

Q should always ask himself, 'What will I know if the answer is Yes, and what will I know if the answer is No?' In order to do that Q must realize that A must answer the exact question asked, not what he suspects the real question is.

Reminder for A: You have exactly four answers from which to choose:

'Yes,'
'No,'
'I don't know,' and
'I can't answer.'

No answer such as 'Well, yes, I suppose so' or 'No, not always' is permissible.

APPENDIX: SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
FOR GAMES PLAYED ONLINE

I've played several dozen games of 20 Questions on road trips over the years with my brother and other people, and any advice I have for you as a result of all those live, in-person games with an intelligent, experienced player has been given above.
But I've also played this game in real time several dozen times through a real-time computer connection to a chat area such as IRC, almost always as A, i.e., the temporary 'host' of the room or channel, and I've discovered that you can't play exactly the same way you would if you were playing vis-à-vis. This section deals with special considerations for when you're playing online.

The first one is especially important.
A'S ANSWERS MUST MAKE SENSE WHEN TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT. In a living-room game, whenever someone shouts out a question and A answers Yes or No, everyone in the room hears the answer and knows which question it's the answer to. It's all nicely linear in a real living room, no matter how many Qs there are. It's more chaotic and disjointed in the online living room, and you can't point and actually look at the questioner. Sometimes three questions in a row (and maybe some non-game comments) will hit the screen before A can post an answer to the first one, so obviously A can't just answer Yes and No the way he can in a real living room full of real speakers, speakers who have not only ears but also eyes.
A must always answer in such a way that any player, by reading that answer, will know not only what the answer is but what the question was.

A few examples, in which the target is any old golf tee, will clarify:

Q1:	Are they made of wood?
Child1:	helo all. age/sex check
Q2: How To Use the Anagram Tool?Enter the word whose anagram you want to find in the 'Word for Anagram' box and hit the search button. Game pigeon anagram solver. The Anagram solver will then fetch all the valid anagrams of the word you have entered.Anagrams are words formed by rearranging the letters of a word in a manner that the resulting word has all the letters of the original word.	Are they flat like a piece of paper?
Child2:	11 year-old fe!! 5th grade!!! WERE R U FROM????
Q3:	Are they used in sports?
Child1:	any one want 2 talk about doom???

[At this point A gets off his accurate and correctly ordered but lazy answers to Q1, Q2 and Q3.]

A:	YES.
A:	NO.
A:	YES.

Obviously, seeing these responses from A, not only will Q1, Q2 and Q3 not be sure whether their questions were answered properly or even at all, neither will any other player.
And it's not enough for A merely to use the various Qs' names in his answers.

Q1:	Are they made of wood?
Child1:	helo all. age/sex check
Q2:	Are they flat like a piece of paper?
Child2:	11 year-old fe!! 5th grade!!! WERE R U FROM????
Q3:	Are they used in sports?
Child1:	any one want 2 talk about doom???

[At this point A gets off his slightly improved answers to Q1, Q2 and Q3.]

A:	YES, Q1.
A:	Q2, NO.
A:	Q3, YES.

With these three answers above, only the three Qs know for sure at most one answer each, which is not how it would be in a real-life game. As A you can't expect every online player to know every question every other online player ever asked.

No, what A must do is try a little harder and include the question in the answer:

Q1:	Are they made of wood?
Child1:	helo all. age/sex check
Q2:	Are they flat like a piece of paper?
Child2:	11 year-old fe!! 5th grade!!! WERE R U FROM????
Q3:	Are they used in sports?
Child1:	any one want 2 talk about doom???

[At this point A gets off his answers to Q1, Q2 and Q3 by including the question in the answer.]

A:	USED IN SPORTS, YES.
A:	MADE OF WOOD.
A:	NOT FLAT LIKE PAPER.

Now it's right. Notice that when A responds by including the question in the answer, he not only fully satisfies the three Qs who asked the three questions, he also provides the questions and their answers to anyone else who's playing, which is how it would be in a real-life game.
And a significant additional benefit of including the question in the answer is that there's no confusion even if the answers do not appear in the order in which the questions were asked.
'GIVE US A HINT.' Sometimes play will bog down, either because everyone is thinking real hard for a long time or because everyone is distracted or bored or utterly unable to come up with another question they're willing to commit to cyberspace. When that happens, you may wish to consider giving a hint.
The only advice I can give you on this subject is that you should first respect the smartest and most experienced Qs in the room, because if you give too easy a hint (e.g., 'It rhymes with Folkswagen'), you will have ruined the game for those people, whereas the others won't mind either way. If you give a hint that's less helpful (e.g., 'Think bugs and buggies') you need only one perceptive Q in the room to lead the all the others down the fruitful path you intended to suggest.

Formulating and phrasing hints as A and interpreting well-thought-out hints as Q are, to me, part of the art.
ALL CAPS. When you're playing online as A, sometimes the questions and your answers fill the screen very quickly (you learn to type really fast). As soon as it becomes obvious that a lot of people in the room want to play, A should toggle the Caps Lock key on so his answers can be distinguished from all the questions and any other messages that might be sent. This way, players who are just watching and thinking for a moment need observe only what comes across in all caps.
When I'm hosting I ask permission to switch to all caps, because some people seem to get a kick out of complaining about all caps as soon as they see 'em. On the other end of the scale are the people in the room who are not A but continue, because they're either creeps or morons, to use all caps. I ignore it, and after awhile a confused Q will usually ask them to drop to proper case.
STRING-SPITTING MACROS. If the software you're using to play the game of 20 Questions online allows it, and if you host much, you can create macros that will save you some typing. For example, when users come into a channel where a game is going on, they quickly realize that something is going on, but few recognize the fast and furious exchange of questions and answers as a game of 20 Questions. On IRC using the mIRC software client you could create an alias that types to the screen, 'We're playing '20 Questions.' We're asking Yes-or-No questions to figure out what Bigfoot is thinking of. Join us.' You could even create an alias that refers newbies to this very Web page (http://barelybad.com/20_questions.htm).
What's even better is when the Qs themselves explain the game. As A you can suggest that the Qs review what they know so far for the benefit of the new players, which might also allow you to identify any wrong interpretations of your right answers or (shudder) any wrong answers you gave.
DON'T ALWAYS REVEAL THE TARGET IN A PRIVATE MESSAGE. If you host often enough, someone will eventually send you a private message asking you to reveal the target, usually saying he has to go offline and is just dying of curiosity. Most such people will then dutifully keep the secret, of course, but a few will then immediately spoil the game by blabbing it. You wouldn't think anyone would be so needful of such malignant attention or so heedless of others' innocent wishes, but it happens. One solution, if you want to go to the trouble, is to offer to e-mail the target after the game ends.
IT'S 'TWENTY QUESTIONS,' NOT 20 questions. Unlike in a real living room, where everyone has agreed to play, in a chat area it happens that after a while some people in the room (usually those who don't wish to play or who have discovered they can't keep up) will ask, 'Isn't that 20 questions already?'
(As A I never respond to such comments, because I figure if people wish legitimately to complain that an activity I'm sponsoring is interfering with their rightful enjoyment of the internet space, they should do so. I also figure that if they wish to leave the room they may do so, but I never say that either.
What I do do is continually gauge whether the game -- which definitely does pretty much wipe out any other activities in the channel -- is popular enough, especially with the originators of that channel, to continue playing it. If it isn't, I bail out by giving an extremely easy hint and congratulating the winner.)
How To Count to 20

However, if as A you've got a fair number of fairly sharp Qs, you can add to the enjoyment by counting off the questions up to 20.

Here's how I do it: In my answers, when a good question is asked I do not count it, and when a dumb question is asked I do, like this:
'IS EXPENSIVE COMPARED TO AIR 12.
'HAS NO MOVING PARTS.
'IS NOT HEAVY COMPARED TO A BLACK HOLE 13.'
Pretty quickly, the Qs figure out that the number that sometimes appears at the end of an answer is always rising incrementally by one and that it's a counter for the questions. The sharper players even figure out that the answers to the perceptive questions do not get counted.
Along these same lines, when the Qs I'm playing with need some encouragement I'll sometimes attach a comment to my answer to a particularly good question, e.g., 'YES, IS USED TO HOLD SOMETHING ELSE. Good q.'
WHO STARTS THE NEXT ROUND? In a living room game, whichever Q first guessed the target typically becomes the next A, and that seems to work out OK. But in the online world, because of the special considerations that are the subject of this section sometimes the Q who happened to be the first to guess the target is new to and unfamiliar with the game and is certainly unqualified to host the next round. This happens more often than you might think, because people are all the time coming into the room, watching for a minute or two, and taking a good guess. If that happens at the wrong time, a novice who knows almost nothing about the game might end up hosting the next round, which is usually a disaster.
If as A you've done a good job of answering questions and keeping the Qs entertained, often they will champ at the bit to play another round. As I see it, you've got some responsibility either to take on the hosting duties again or arrange it so they're passed on to reasonably capable hands. (You have my permission to refer anyone you like to this very document; I hope that those who follow some of these suggestions will become better both as Questioners and as Answerers.) As you yourself gain experience being A, you'll discover that you can discriminate pretty quickly between the Qs who clearly understand how to play well and those who clearly don't.
The better Qs will discover that this game requires two abilities that are usually found together: the ability to think logically and the ability to manipulate language with precision.
In 20 Questions those abilities are at least as helpful as merely knowing lots of facts. 20 Questions is as much an IQ test as it is a comprehensive final exam in Facts 101.
(Yes, I know. I'm rambling again. I can see that now. I really wish I knew to use the delete thingy on this word proceddor.)

Anyway, thanks for reading this monograph about the game of 20 Questions, and have fun with it. If you have any suggestions for how to improve it, please .

If you've read this far you might enjoy the other parlor game I discuss, one that's oddly similar to 20 Questions, named Charades.

Quiz:

📖 Contents:

What is the Game “20 Questions”?

The “20 Question Game” might seem old fashioned, but who cares? It works. Just with asking and answering questions, you get the chance to get to know someone on a deeper level. It helps to build a special bond while sharing your deepest dreams, desire, and fears. Sure, opening up and being vulnerable can be risky but give the “20 Questions Game” a try. Trust me, if it’s the right person, it will be beautiful.

How to play the “20 Questions Game”

There are many variations of the well-known “20 Questions Game”. But the basic rules are straightforward: You’re at least two players, one asks a question and the other player answers. There are no right or wrong answers. The main goal of the game isn’t even answering a question, it’s sharing and talking about personal things. These questions are great conversation starters. So, grab one person you want to get to know better and look at our question list for your “20 Questions Game”.

20 questions to ask a guy

The following great 20 questions are made for you to ask a guy of your choice. It doesn’t matter if you’re a teenage girl, a grown-up woman, or a guy yourself – I am sure we all agree: Boys can be difficult. And these 20 funny questions to ask a guy will be your solution and help you bond with him.

If you were a girl for a day, what is the first thing you’d do?
Would you rather be an amazing painter or a brilliant mathematician?
Who is your dream woman, dead or alive?
What do you think of hairy legs?
What would you do if a guy asked for your number?
Would you rather eat a half-cooked meal or eat a half-burnt meal?
What’s the worst and best thing about being male?
Who are you closest to in your family?
Are women equal to men?
Would you rather be beautiful/handsome but stupid or intelligent but ugly?
Which Disney Prince are you?

21 Questions Game To Ask

Would you still like a girl if she was way taller than you?
What’s the biggest lie that someone told you?
What is the first thing you notice about a woman?
What’s the most useless thing you’ve ever learned in school?
How attractive do you think you are on a scale from 1 to 10?
What’s your definition of a “real man”?
Would you rather not shave your beard or cut your hair for a month?
What is the real story behind your last post on Instagram?
What makes you special and unique?

20 questions to ask a girl

Are you into the cute girl next door? Or you’re currently on the way to your first date with the girl of your dreams? Or maybe you’re just in a new school and want to start a friendship with the most popular girl? Perfect, because the next 20 questions to ask a girl are made for you to come one step closer to this girl.

Would you rather trade some intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?
What are the qualities that you are looking for in a boy?
What scares you the most about the future?
Which Disney Princess are you?
What do you love about yourself?
Would you rather go out without makeup or shoes?
How do you know when you’re in love?
What do you think about feminism?
Would you rather wear a corset all day long, every day or stiletto heels all day long, every day?
If you were a boy for a day, what is the first thing you’d do?
Who is the luckiest person you know?

Would you rather date a man five years younger or older than you?
What would you grab if your house was on fire?
If you got pregnant today, what would you do?
What’s your favorite smell?
Which actress would play you in a movie about your life?
Do you believe that the saying “nice guys finish last” has any truth to it?
What’s your perfect burger?
What’s the worst and best thing about being female?
How attractive do you think you are on a scale from 1 to 10?

20 questions to get to know someone

Meeting and connecting with new people can be overwhelming, especially for introverted persons, but sometimes for extroverts as well. Just take a step out of your comfort zone and start a conversation with someone who seems interesting. The following 20 questions are to get to know someone. Some of them may seem too random, some of them too personal, but it’s the combination that helps you bond with new friends.

What was the last movie that made you cry?
What language do you like the sound of, even though you don’t know how to speak it?
Would you rather never be able to wear pants or never be able to wear shorts?
Which social media do you use the most often?
What’s the worst injury you’ve ever gotten?
Have you had any near-death experiences?
Where have you traveled?
Would you rather be a famous director or a famous actor?
Would you rather be held in high regard by your parents or your friends?
What are five things that you can not live without?
Would you rather be forced to kill one innocent person or five people who committed minor crimes?
What is your take on climate change?
What is the last dream you can remember?
Would you rather be able to teleport anywhere or be able to read minds?
What era would you choose to live in if you could?
Do you have any addiction?
How do you spend a typical Saturday night?
How do you treat people who annoy you for no reason?
Would you rather lose all your money and valuables or all the pictures you have ever taken?
Would you rather only wear one color each day or have to wear seven colors each day?

If you like our “Would you rather…” questions, check out our online game:

20 funny questions to get to know someone

The “20 Questions Game” also works with more than two players and can be a really entertaining party game too. With the next 20 funny questions, you will not only get to know the other players better; you will also be laughing your ass off while playing. If you’re playing with some well-known friends maybe check out the “20 funny questions to ask your friends” to hear some new things.

When and how did you find out that Santa isn’t real?
What was your most embarrassing moment in school (so far)?
Would you rather be balding but fit or overweight with a full head of hair?
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
Would you rather not be able to see any colors or have mild but constant tinnitus (ringing in the ears)?
What’s your most embarrassing sex story?
Would you rather give up bathing for a month or give up the internet for a month?
What’s the strangest hobby you’ve heard of?
Do you believe in aliens?

Questions For 20 Questions Game

Would you rather super sensitive taste or super-sensitive hearing?
What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve done because you were bored?
Would you rather be lost in a bad part of town or lost in the forest?
Which fictional character would you marry if you had the chance?
Who’s famous for their talent, but really shouldn’t be?
What are you too old for but still enjoy?
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done to get someone’s attention?
If you were a ghost, how would you haunt?
What’s the weirdest celebrity crush you’ve ever had?
Would you rather have amazingly fast typing/texting speed or be able to read ridiculously fast?
Would you rather be famous but ridiculed or be just a normal person?

20 questions to ask your crush

Taking the first step in the right direction can be tough. Maybe you already know that you like a specific person and that you would make a great couple. Or you’ve just met your crush and want to make sure that you’re connecting. The following 20 questions to ask your crush are great for the first real talk, for dates in the beginning, as well as after some time as a couple. Just check them out and take the chance to get to know the person of your dreams!

Would you date someone who doesn’t have any books in their house?
Would you rather never get angry or never be envious?
What’s your dream date night?
What do you personally think of your friend’s relationships?
What do you think about double texting?
Would you rather eat a ketchup sandwich or a Siracha sandwich?
Would you rather have a horribly corrupt government or no government?
What do you think about marriage?
Do you think weight gain is an acceptable reason to break up with someone?
Do you believe love can last a lifetime?
Would you ever date a blind person?
Would you rather eat a box of dry spaghetti noodles or two cups of uncooked rice?
What small thing makes you angrier than it should?
What attracts you to people?
What’s the length of your longest romantic relationship?
Would you rather be poor but help people or become incredibly rich by hurting people?
Are you still friends with your exes?
What are your feelings towards open relationships?
What’s the best thing about being single?
Would you rather use a push lawnmower with a bar that is far too high or far too low?

20 funny questions to ask your friends

So, you think you’re knowing your friends already too well to find out some new stuff? Well, no. Okay, maybe you’re right at some point, but we guarantee there will be surprises. Just grab your friends and check out these 20 funny questions. And don’t forget to add a “why” after sometimes to get the chance to hear some hilarious backstories!

When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
What is the worst TV show/movie you’ve ever watched?
What alcoholic drink best describes your personality and why?
Would you rather eat at Burger King or McDonald’s?
What’s the worst food combination you can imagine?
What have you done wrong for most of your life and only recently found out the right way to do it?
Would you rather have three nipples or one nipple?
Would you rather dance like MJ or sing like Freddie Mercury?
Would you rather eat pizza every day or eat pasta every day?
What’s your worst customer service story, either as the customer or as the employee?
Have you ever had a crush on an animated character?
What childish thing do you still enjoy?
What flavor combination is kind of weird, but you really like it?
What was the weirdest habit you had as a child?
What’s the strangest way you’ve become friends with someone?
Which reality TV series would you love to be part of?
What is the best joke that you know?
What’s the weirdest conversation you’ve ever overheard?
What’s the strangest gift you’ve ever received?
If you could replace the handshake as a greeting, what interesting new greeting would you replace it with?

Do you like games as conversation starters? Give our 21 questions game with more than 100 questions a try:

Bonus: 100 extra 20 questions game questions

Why do you think we dream?
If you had to rename yourself, what name would you choose?
What’s your favorite holiday, and why?
What’s the weirdest thing you used to eat as a child?
Would you rather always be hot or always be cold?
Would you rather discover a new periodic table element or win gold at the Olympics?
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
Would you rather be trapped in a sandstorm or snowstorm?
What is the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?
Have you ever cheated on someone?
What is the worst thing you’ve ever done in your life?
Would you rather starve to death or eat humans for the rest of your life?
If you could be any animal, what would you be?
What would you tell your younger self if you could go back in time?
What TV shows did you watch when you were a kid?
Would you rather brush your teeth with rocks or drink milk that smells like bad breath?
What’s the most ridiculous thing you have convinced someone is true?
What would your perfect day look like?
What country can you name, but besides the name, you know almost nothing else about?
What do you think people automatically assume about you when they look at you?
What’s the most pleasing accent to hear your language spoken with?
Would you rather be a fairy or be a tall dwarf?
How did you deal with your feelings and emotions growing up?
What are your life’s dreams, and what do you want for your future?
Would you rather have a sensitive nose or sensitive ears?
Who is your secret hero?

How long would you survive a zombie apocalypse?
When was the most inappropriate time you farted?
Have you ever been cheated on?
Would you rather be fantastic at riding horses or amazing at driving dirt bikes?
What are you completely over and done with?
Would you rather be emotionless or feel too much?
What are the top three things you want to accomplish before you die?
What age do you feel right now, and why?
What would your dream house be like?
What movie have you seen more than seven times?
Would you rather move to a new city or town every week or never be able to leave the city or town you were born in?
What is the most beautiful word for you?
In your opinion, what is the most useless animal?
What is the best advertisement you’ve ever seen?
Would you rather go on a fancy date or Netflix and chill?
If you had the super-power of invisibility, how would you use it?
How would you save the world?
What is the super-power you most want to have?
What do you imagine your future family will be like?
Would you rather live the next 10 years of your life in China or Russia?
If you had to switch lives with someone, who would you choose?
Would you rather never be able to eat meat or never be able to eat vegetables?
How did you meet your best friend?
Would you rather have a home on the beach or in the mountains?
What was the best meal you’ve ever eaten?
Would you rather eat a spoonful of wasabi or a spoonful of extremely spicy hot sauce?
How would you describe your relationship with your family?
What memory do you just keep going back to?
What’s the most ridiculous argument you’ve had?
Would you rather be very good at dancing or singing?
What was your favorite game as a child?
Would you rather travel anywhere in the universe at the speed of light or be able to read minds?
Given the choice of anyone in the world, who would you want as a dinner guest?
Have you ever had to lose someone close to you?
What’s the worst advice someone has given you?
What keeps you up at night?
Would you rather be forced to dance every time you heard music or be forced to sing along to any song you heard?
Would you rather hug a panda or hug a polar bear?
If you could see into the future, what’s one thing you want to see?
How many people have you kissed?
What is your very first memory?
What do you hate about politicians?
Do you have any insecurities in your life?
Would you rather be completely insane and know that you are insane or completely insane and believe you are sane?
When you were a kid, what seemed like the best thing about being a grown-up?
What are you most grateful for?
What took you way too long to figure out?
Would you rather be able to see 10 minutes into your own future or 10 minutes into the future of anyone but yourself?
Would you rather surf or skateboard?

Game Pigeon 20 Questions To Ask Tell Me

What are your views on what happens after you die?
What do you miss about your childhood?
Would you rather there be a perpetual water balloon war going on in your city/town or a perpetual food fight?
If you went into a coma and woke up in the year 2120, what would be the first thing you would want to know?
Would you rather be an average person in the present or a king of a large country 2500 years ago?
What do you really wish you knew when you were younger?
What book did you read more than one time?
What was the happiest moment of your life?
Would you rather control King Kong or Godzilla?
Would you rather have to fart loudly whenever you have a serious conversation or have to burp after every kiss?
What is the most important thing you have learned in life?
Would you rather go to the cinema or to a concert?
What makes you the angriest?
Would you rather be covered in fur or covered in scales?
If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go?
What pets did you have while you were growing up?
Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early?
What do you think about artificial intelligence?
Do you think religion will always exist?
Would you rather wear a wedding dress/tuxedo every single day or wear a bathing suit every single day?
Would you rather be a cyborg or be half-man half-animal?
Who was your first crush?
What’s your dream job, and why?
Would you rather be Spongebob or be Patrick?
If you could put something on the cover of a newspaper, what would it be?

Game Pigeon 20 Questions Cheats

✍️ May 26, 2020