21 Questions Game

You don't have to be a Sherlock Holmes to play this game, but it sure helps. This game is perfect for all those detectives hiding inside each of us.

The premise behind this sleuthing game is that you have 21 guesses to figure out what the questionee is thinking of, be it a person, place or thing. Elementary my dear, Watson!

Some people know this game as the 20 question game. I just like the sound of 21 better because it rolls off the tongue easier. Either way, you have lots of chances to guess correctly.

The trick to winning this game are the questions you ask. You need to ask the kind of questions that rule out as many variables as possible during the early rounds of questions. For example, a strategy used in the ISpy game is to ask questions that would cut the observable space by half's. For example, "Is it on the right side of the room?", and then "Is it in the top part of the room?". With those simple questions you could have just increased the chances of guessing the correct answer by 75%. The same principle can be used in this game.

How To Play 21 Questions Game

Goal

Be the first person to guess correctly.

Game Play

1. Select who will go first. Usually the youngest will go first.
2. Whoever is going first must think of a person, place or thing. Once he or she has an idea, that person must tell the group the category he or she has chosen (person, place or thing).
3. The group only has 21 guesses to find the right answer. The idea of the game is to narrow down the possibilities with up to 21 questions until one can determine the correct answer.
4. To keep things orderly, the questions should be asked by your group in turn. Each person gets to ask one question per turn.
5. The first person to guess right wins!

Game Play Variations

If you want to play a longer game, play multiple 21 question games back to back. The person that guesses correctly gets points based how many questions were left in this current game. For example, if someone guesses correctly on the 15th question, that person will get six points. Six would be the amount of questions left in the game. Play a total of five games and at the end, tally up the points. Whoever has the most points wins!