Who Am I?

What You Need

• Sticky notes, or strips of paper and tape. A headband works too.
• A pen.
• Two or more players. Two is a great count. See the notes below.

Setup

1. Each player secretly writes the name of a person or character on a sticky note. Real or fictional, alive or dead. Pick someone the other player knows.
2. Stick your note on the other player's forehead without letting them see it.
3. Agree on the ground rules before the first question. The two that matter are the question limit and whether a wrong guess costs anything.
4. Move any mirrors. Phone cameras count.

How a Turn Works

1. On your turn, ask one question about your own identity. It must be a yes or no question. "Am I alive?" is fine. "What year was I born?" is not.
2. The other player answers yes or no. Lying is not allowed. If the honest answer is unclear, the answerer says "sort of" or "I don't know," and the question still counts.
3. The turn passes to the other player, who asks a question about their own note.
4. Instead of a question, you can use your turn to guess your identity. Say the name out loud.
5. Right guess, you win. Wrong guess, your turn ends and the game continues.

Winning

The first player to name the person on their own forehead wins. That is the whole game.

Two-Player Notes

With two players, each of you answers for the other, so there is no group to confirm answers. Be honest. A wrong answer ruins the game. Also, pick names with care. The other player picked your name for you, so if you choose someone obscure, expect the same back. A good two-player game runs 10 to 20 questions each. Play best of 3 so a lucky early guess does not end the night.

Question Strategy

• Start wide. "Am I real?" "Am I alive today?" "Am I a man?" Each of those cuts the field roughly in half.
• Then find the field. "Am I known for movies?" "Sports?" "Music?" "Politics?"
• Then narrow the time and place. "Was I famous before 2000?" "Am I American?"
• Guess only when you can name one or two candidates. A blind guess wastes a turn.
• Track the answers. After 8 questions people forget what they asked. Say them back in order before you guess.

Variations

• Keep asking on a yes. As long as the answer is yes, you keep asking. A no passes the turn. Many groups play this way. It rewards safe questions.
• Twenty question limit. If you run out, you lose. Adds real pressure and forces good questions.
• Categories. Agree on a category first, such as movie characters, athletes, or people you both know. Narrow categories make the game faster and funnier.
• Objects and places. Write "the Eiffel Tower" or "a toaster" instead of a person. The questions change a lot.
• Same note. Both players wear the same name and race to guess it. One person who is not playing writes it.