20 Questions Game

What is 20 Questions?

20 Questions is a guessing game for two or more players. One player, the answerer, has a secret thing in mind. Everyone else asks questions that can only be answered with yes or no. Guess the thing within 20 questions and the askers win; run out of questions and the answerer wins. It works in the car, at the dinner table, in a classroom or on a video call.

This page does the parts that are easy to get wrong. It picks a secret thing from 720 everyday things, shows it only to the answerer (on this phone, or on the answerer’s own phone through a link or a square code), counts the questions, keeps a list of the answers and offers 244 question ideas. No sign-up and no app: open it and play.

How to play 20 Questions

1. Choose the answerer. Pick the categories and level, then show the secret thing on this phone or send it to the answerer’s phone. Or choose Think of your own.
2. Ask. The askers take turns asking yes-or-no questions. After each answer, tap Yes, No or Sort of; the phone counts and keeps the list.
3. Guess. A guess (“Is it a penguin?”) counts as a question too. When someone gets it, tap Guessed it.
4. Swap. After question 20 the askers get one last guess. Then the next player becomes the answerer.

Good questions for 20 Questions

The best questions cut the possibilities in half. Start broad, then close in. These are the twelve best openers:

• Is it alive?
• Is it an animal?
• Is it bigger than a breadbox?
• Is it something you can eat?
• Would you usually find it indoors?
• Is it made by people?
• Is it a place?
• Can you hold it in one hand?
• Is it found in nature?
• Is it a person or a job?
• Can it move on its own?
• Is it make-believe?

And more ideas for every stage of the game:

20 Questions ideas: what to think of

Stuck for a secret thing? Here are some from the game’s 12 categories. Easy ones suit younger players; the hard ones make a long game.

Tips for askers and answerers

• Don’t guess too early. “Is it a cat?” on question two wastes a question. Find the group first.
• Ask about size, place and use. “Would it fit in a backpack?”, “Is it found outside?” and “Do you use it every day?” work for almost anything.
• Answerers, be fair. If the honest answer is “it depends”, say sort of. A wrong yes or no can ruin the round.
• Keep track. The list of answers on the phone stops the same question from being asked twice.

20 Questions with kids and in the classroom

The game trains a real skill: sorting things into groups and asking questions that rule out half of them. For young children, choose the Kids categories (animals, food, things at home, vehicles), the easy level and 30 questions. In class, let one student be the answerer and the rest of the class ask in turns, with the page on the board.

20 Questions or 21 Questions?

They are different games. 20 Questions is the guessing game on this page. 21 Questions is a conversation game where two people take turns asking each other personal questions to get to know each other. If you want to play a guessing game with friends, you are in the right place.

Is it private?

Yes. The secret thing is chosen on the phone and travels to the answerer only inside the link you share; it is not written in the link as a word. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere, and there is no account.

More guessing games: the Imposter Game, Charades and Werewolf.