Guess Who?

What You Need

• A Guess Who? set. That is two boards with 24 face cards each, 24 matching mystery cards, and two score keepers for a series. Newer editions swap in new characters, but the count is still 24 per board.
• Nothing else. No pencil, no timer.

Setup

1. Each player takes a board and lays it flat with the mystery card slot nearest them. Tip all 24 faces up.
2. Shuffle the mystery cards. Each player draws one without showing it and slides it into their slot. Put the rest of the mystery cards away.
3. The official rule says the younger player goes first. Flip a coin if that feels unfair.

How a Turn Works

On your turn you do one of two things. Ask a question, or make a guess. Never both.

To ask, put one yes-or-no question to your opponent about their mystery person. "Does your person wear glasses?" "Is your person bald?" They must answer yes or no. Then flip down every face on your board that the answer rules out. If you asked about a hat and the answer was no, every face with a hat goes down.

Your turn ends. Now the other player asks.

Question Rules

• One question per turn.
• The question must have a yes or no answer. "What color is their hair?" is not allowed.
• Ask about anything you can see on the faces: hair color, hair length, glasses, hats, eye color, beards, moustaches, rosy cheeks, big noses, whether the person looks like a man or a woman.
• "Is your person Bernard?" is not a question. That is a guess, and a guess has a cost.

Guessing

When you think you know, spend your turn on a guess. "Is your person Claire?" Your opponent must answer truthfully. Right, and you win. Wrong, and you lose the game on the spot. That is the official rule, so do not guess until you are sure.

Winning

First correct guess wins. A game between two adults runs about 3 to 6 minutes.

For a series, slide your score keeper up one notch for every game you win. First to five wins is the champion. That is the official Championship Play rule.

Two-Player Notes

Guess Who? is built for two, so the box rules already fit. These house rules fix the rough edges.

• Alternate who goes first. The first player has a small edge because they get the first cut at the faces. Over a five-game series it evens out only if you swap.
• Soften the wrong guess penalty for kids. Instead of losing, a wrong guess ends your turn and that face flips down. Adults should keep the official rule. It makes the last two faces tense.
• Decide about name questions before you start. "Does your person's name start with A through M?" is not banned in the printed rules, and it cuts the board in half. Most people find it cheap. We ban it.
• When you are down to two faces, ask, do not guess. A question that separates them costs nothing. A guess is a coin flip that can lose you the game.

Strategy Tips

• Count before you ask. The best question removes close to half the faces still standing. With 24 up, look for a feature that about 12 share.
• Broad beats narrow. "Does your person have any facial hair?" usually cuts deeper than "Does your person have a moustache?"
• Group features in your head early. Know which faces have glasses, which have hats, which have white hair. It saves time on later turns.
• Your opponent can see how many faces you have flipped. If they are close, stop asking narrow questions and hunt for a big split.

Variations

• Challenge Game (official): each player draws two mystery cards. Questions must use "both" or "either," as in "Do either of your people have a beard?" A yes on an "either" question rules out nothing, since only one of the two must match. You must name both people on the same turn to win.
• Timer: 30 seconds per turn. Stops the long stares.
• Character mode: each player picks their mystery person on purpose instead of drawing at random. Good for playing with a child who wants to be a specific face. Bad for adults, who will pick the face with the rarest features every time.