20 questions
One player thinks of something; everyone else has 20 yes-or-no questions to work out what it is. This page gives the thinker a private suggestion, gives the askers good questions in a sensible order, and counts the questions so nobody argues about whether that was 19 or 20.
How to play 20 questions
- Pick a thinker. Use the who goes first picker if nobody volunteers. The thinker chooses an object, animal, place or person everyone knows, and keeps it secret.
- Ask yes-or-no questions. Players take turns asking one question each. The thinker answers only "yes", "no", or "sometimes / not sure" when a fair answer really is unclear.
- Count every question. A guess like "Is it a toaster?" counts too. Tap the counter below after each answer.
- Win. Whoever guesses it becomes the next thinker. If 20 questions go by with no right guess, the thinker reveals it and wins the round.
Answer honestly and simply. If a question cannot be answered yes or no ("What color is it?"), say so and it does not count.
Thinker's helper and question counter
Something to think of
Hidden. Only the thinker should look.
Questions used
20 questions left
Question ideas
Stuck for a question? The moods sort them by stage: turn on only "Thoughtful" for the big splitting questions to open with, "Funny" for narrowing ones, and "Silly" for the oddly specific ones near the end. With all three on, you get a random mix.
question generator
Question to ask
Tap "Next question" to start
Take turns by name (optional)
Printable question cards
Cards follow the filters above. Pick how many, tap Make cards, then use your browser's Print (Ctrl+P, Cmd+P on a Mac, or Share then Print on a phone). Only the cards print, 12 to a US Letter page, ready to cut apart.
12 sample cards below.
Strategy: why broad questions win
Each yes-or-no answer can at best cut the possibilities in half. That is why "Is it alive?" beats "Is it a cat?" as a first question: it rules out about half of everything, while a guess usually rules out one thing.
| Perfect half-splitting questions | Things they can tell apart |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 16 |
| 5 | 32 |
| 10 | 1,024 |
| 15 | 32,768 |
| 20 | 1,048,576 |
- Go from big to small: alive or not, then size, then where you find it, then what it is made of, then details.
- Listen to everyone's answers, not only your own. Keep a mental list of what is ruled out.
- Do not guess early. A guess at question 5 wastes a question unless you are almost sure.
- Thinkers: pick something specific but fair. "A red bicycle" is fine; "the bicycle I had when I was six" is not.
Versions for kids, class and car trips
For young kids
Allow 30 questions, pick from the Kids suggestions, and let a grown-up help the thinker answer. Limit it to one category: "an animal" or "something in this room".
In a classroom
The teacher thinks of a word from the current topic (a planet, a historical figure, a shape) and the class asks. Print a set of question cards for students who freeze when it is their turn.
In the car
No counter needed: the driver thinks, the passengers ask, and someone counts on their fingers. Keep it to things you can see out the window for younger kids.
Famous people
The thinker picks a famous person or a character from a book or film. Good first questions: "Is this person real?", "Are they alive today?", "Are they known for sport, music, film or something else?"
What this page adds
Most pages about this game are a long list of questions to scroll through. Here the thinker gets a private suggestion they can hide again, the askers get questions in the order that wins, and the counter keeps track of every question, guess and "not sure" so the round ends at 20, not "about 20".
Questions about the game
How do you play 20 questions?
One player thinks of something. Everyone else asks questions that can be answered yes or no, one at a time, and tries to name the thing before 20 questions are used. A guess counts as a question. Whoever guesses it thinks of the next one.
What are good questions to ask in 20 questions?
Start with questions that split everything in half: "Is it alive?", "Is it bigger than a loaf of bread?", "Is it made by people?". Save narrow ones like "Does it have a tail?" for later. The generator on this page has 50 questions grouped from broad to narrow.
What should the thinker pick?
Something everyone in the room knows, but not the first thing they would guess: a lighthouse rather than a dog. Tap "Something to think of" for a private suggestion from 260 everyday things.
Is it "animal, vegetable or mineral"?
That is the traditional first question. Animal means anything that is or was an animal, vegetable anything from a plant, mineral everything else. Many groups now start with "Is it alive?" instead, which does the same job.
Can you really guess anything with so few questions?
If every answer cut the possibilities exactly in half, 20 questions could tell apart over a million things. Real questions do not split that evenly, which is why the game is hard and why broad questions should come first.
More guessing games: two truths and a lie, charades ideas, and words to draw.