Questions to Ask in 20 Questions
For anyone playing Twenty Questions, the guessing game where one player thinks of a person, place or thing and everyone else gets twenty yes-or-no questions to work out what it is. The 57 questions run in the order a good round goes: Openers that sort the answer into a category, Narrowing for size, setting and age, then the finishing questions for Animals and plants, People, Places and Objects.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Openers
Is it an animal, a vegetable or a mineral?
Why ask it
The traditional opener, and one of only two questions on this page that cannot be answered yes or no, so agree before the round whether it counts toward the twenty. Animal means anything that is or came from a creature, vegetable anything that grows, and mineral everything else, which makes a leather shoe animal and a wooden chair vegetable.
Is it a person, a place or a thing?
Why ask it
The newer opener, the other question here that is not a yes or a no, and one the answerer often just announces for free. If your group wants strict yes-or-no questions, split it in two: 'Is it a person?' and, after a no, 'Is it a place?'
Is it alive right now?
Why ask it
A yes leaves living people, animals and plants, and rules out every object in one move. Treat a no with care: it could still be a dinosaur, a historical figure or a character who was never alive in the first place, so let the next question sort that out.
Was it ever alive, or made from something that was?
Why ask it
Ask this straight after a no to 'alive right now'. A yes points at the dead and the extinct, or at wood, paper, wool and food. A firm no means you are hunting for stone, metal, plastic or glass, or for something that is not a physical thing at all.
Does it exist in the real world?
Why ask it
Asking early saves a whole round of chasing a real horse when the answer is a unicorn. After a no, find the story it belongs to: a book, a movie, a show, a game or a myth.
Is there only one of it in the world?
Why ask it
'The Statue of Liberty' and 'a statue' call for different closing questions, and guessers forget to check which one they are after. With a yes you need a name. With a no you only need the kind, so stop asking where it is.
Did people make it?
Why ask it
The split here is between the built and the grown or formed: a bridge or a river, a sweater or a sheep. Expect a pause over things like a garden or a breed of dog, and take a 'sort of' as a clue in its own right.
Could I touch it?
Why ask it
This is the one that catches an answerer who chose Tuesday, gravity or a rainbow. A no this early helps more than it hurts, because the well-known things nobody can touch make a short list: ideas, days, sounds, weather and feelings.
Would everybody playing have heard of it?
Why ask it
How the yes comes tells you how hard a round you are in. A confident one means household names and ordinary objects. Hesitation means the answerer has reached for something from a hobby or a class, so think about what they have been into lately.
Narrowing
Is it bigger than a breadbox?
Why ask it
The best-known question in the game, though few players have seen a breadbox: picture a box that holds a loaf or two. Swapping in something everyone can see, a backpack or the microwave, gets a quicker and more reliable answer.
Could I hold it in one hand?
Why ask it
Only worth asking once you know it is small. It splits the keys, coins and phones from the toasters and shoeboxes, and a yes here together with 'found in a home' leaves a list short enough to start guessing from.
Is it bigger than a car?
Why ask it
The step up when the breadbox question came back yes. Bigger than a car means buildings, large animals, vehicles and landmarks. Smaller leaves furniture, appliances and anything two people could carry between them.
Is it usually found indoors?
Why ask it
If you get a yes, walk through the buildings next: home, school, store or workplace. An answer of 'both' often means something people carry around, like a phone, a ball or a water bottle.
Would I find one in most homes?
Why ask it
With a yes you can go room by room, which is the shortest route there is to an everyday object. If the answerer says 'in some homes', think of things that depend on taste or space: a piano, a fish tank, a treadmill.
Can you see one from where you are sitting?
Why ask it
Children love to pick something in the room, so ask it early when a child is the answerer. Watch their eyes as you ask, since a glance at the thing often comes before the yes. On a car ride, change it to 'Have we passed one today?'
Is it found all over the world?
Why ask it
You can ask this of an animal, a plant, a food or an object. A no means it belongs to one region or climate, and your next few questions should be about where: hot or cold, this continent or another, land or sea.
Does it make a sound?
Why ask it
Animals, instruments, machines and weather all get a yes, so save it until the category is settled. For an object, follow up by asking whether the sound is the point of it, as with a bell or a guitar, or a side effect, as with a blender.
Has it been around for more than a hundred years?
Why ask it
One of the few questions that works equally well on a person, a place or an object. A no throws out castles, pharaohs and steam engines in one go, and a yes does the same to smartphones, video games and nearly everyone alive today.
Animals and plants
Is it a mammal?
Why ask it
The standard first cut once you know it is an animal. With a no, work through the other groups one at a time: bird, fish, reptile, insect. Young answerers can be shaky on whales and bats, so if later answers stop adding up, come back and test this one.
Does it have four legs?
Why ask it
A no after 'animal' leaves two legs, six, eight or none, and each of those is a quick question of its own. Tables and chairs get a yes as well, so ask it only once you are sure the answer is a creature.
Does it live in water?
Why ask it
A yes on top of 'mammal' leaves a short list: whales, dolphins, seals, otters and a few others. Frogs, ducks and crocodiles are where 'sometimes' earns its place as a legal answer, so do not push the answerer for a plain yes or no.
Can it fly?
Why ask it
Most players hear this as 'Is it a bird?', but it also catches bats and insects and lets penguins and ostriches slip through. After a yes, ask about feathers before you start naming birds.
Do people keep it as a pet?
Why ask it
If the yes comes easily, you are down to a handful and can go straight to 'Is it a dog?' A slow 'some people do' suggests a snake, a parrot, a rabbit or a pig, and that hesitation is worth more than a clean yes.
Does it eat other animals?
Why ask it
Hunters go one way and grazers the other, and the answerer usually knows without having to think. Bears, pigs and raccoons eat both, so a 'sometimes' here narrows things more than a plain yes would.
Would I find it on a farm?
Why ask it
A yes hands you about ten animals and a clear run to the answer. After a no, try the other two homes an animal can have in a guessing game: a zoo, or the wild near where you live.
Is it dangerous to people?
Why ask it
Answerers enjoy choosing sharks, bears, snakes and big cats, and this finds them in one question. A laugh followed by 'technically' probably means a goose, a horse or a bee.
Is it a fruit or a vegetable?
Why ask it
Ask for a single yes or no here, not a choice between the two. A yes takes you to the produce aisle, where color and 'Is it sweet?' finish the job. After a no, 'Does it have flowers?' is the next split.
Does it grow on a tree?
Why ask it
For anything in the vegetable group that turns out to be a plant. Yes means fruit, nuts, leaves or the wood itself. No sends you down to the ground for bushes, vines, roots and whatever grows in a field.
People
Do we both know this person in real life?
Why ask it
Ask it first when you are playing with family, because Grandma, a teacher and the next-door neighbor are all fair picks. After a yes the useful questions are about family, school, work and friends, and none of the celebrity questions below apply.
Is this person a man?
Why ask it
The plainest way to halve the famous people of the world, which is why so many rounds with a person in them include it. Ask it once, early, and move on: it says nothing about what the person is known for.
Is this person famous for acting or music?
Why ask it
What someone is known for is the fastest way through famous people, and entertainment is a big bucket. With a yes, split it by asking about music alone. With a no, move to sports, then politics, then science and writing.
Is this person known for sports?
Why ask it
Find the sport before the name: ask whether it is a team sport, then whether it is played with a ball. 'Still competing?' is the other cheap question, and it separates the legends from the current stars.
Has this person ever led a country?
Why ask it
Presidents, prime ministers, kings and queens all fall under this one question. Follow a yes with 'this country?' and then with era, since the list of leaders any one group can name is shorter than it feels.
Is this person from the country we are in?
Why ask it
Wording it this way works wherever you are playing. A no is harder to follow up, so go continent by continent, or ask whether the person is best known for work in English.
Did this person become famous before I was born?
Why ask it
Asking about decades makes the answerer do sums, while your own birth is something they can place on the spot. With mixed ages in the group, say whose birth you mean, then ask it again about the oldest player if you need a second cut.
Is this a character from a book, a movie or a show?
Why ask it
For when the answer is a person but not a real one. It is three questions folded together, so after a yes ask where the character first appeared, starting with 'in a book?', and be ready for a debate about characters who began in comics.
Is this character human?
Why ask it
A no helps most here: talking animals, robots, monsters, toys and aliens are each a small group. After a yes, ask whether the character has powers or magic, which sorts superheroes and wizards from detectives and pirates.
Is this character animated?
Why ask it
'Animated' gets at cartoons without your having to list studios. Paired with 'Is it mainly for kids?', it brings you down to a few series, and from there you guess the best-known character first.
Does this person's first name start with a letter from A to M?
Why ask it
Check the house rules before you try it, because plenty of groups ban spelling questions as too easy. Where they are allowed, save this for the last three or four turns, when you have a few names in mind and need to choose between them.
Places
Is it in this country?
Why ask it
Start every place round here. On a yes, narrow by region and then by how far away it is. On a no, go to continents, starting with the ones where you could name the most places.
Is it bigger than a city?
Why ask it
Places come in sizes: a continent, a country, a state, a city, a building, a single spot. This question lands in the middle, so one answer tells you whether to ask about borders and oceans or about streets and roofs.
Is it a single building or structure?
Why ask it
Towers, stadiums, bridges, museums, palaces and somebody's house all get a yes. From there, ask whether you would need a ticket to go in, which separates the attractions from the everyday buildings.
Is it north of the equator?
Why ask it
A geography question most answerers can handle, though expect a pause, and possibly a wrong answer, for places near the line. If the answerer is unsure, drop it and ask 'Is it hot there most of the year?', which anyone can answer from pictures.
Is it next to an ocean or a sea?
Why ask it
Coast or inland is a split that works on countries, cities and landmarks alike. Islands tend to get an enthusiastic yes, so if you hear one, ask whether it is surrounded by water.
Have I been there?
Why ask it
The best personal question in the game when the answerer knows you well, and useless when they do not. A yes cuts the whole world down to your own travels. Follow it with 'in the last year?' or 'with you?'
Could we drive there from here in a day?
Why ask it
Distance in terms everyone can picture. A yes also tells you that no ocean is in the way, which makes it a good substitute when nobody is confident about continents.
Do people live there?
Why ask it
Ask it even when it sounds silly. A no covers mountaintops, monuments and the bottom of the sea, and also the moon: outer space and made-up places are tempting picks, and this is often the question that exposes them.
Do tourists travel a long way to see it?
Why ask it
A yes means you are looking for a name known around the world, so start with the most photographed places you can think of. A no points somewhere ordinary or local: the school, the park, the grocery store, the answerer's own bedroom.
Objects
Do you use it every day?
Why ask it
Daily routines are short lists: a toothbrush, a phone, keys, shoes, a bed, a fork. Word it about the answerer and not about people in general, because a child's everyday things and a parent's are not the same.
Does it need electricity or batteries to work?
Why ask it
Ask it as soon as you know the thing is found in a home. Yes leads to 'Does it have a screen?' No leads to what it is made of, which is the next question on this list.
Is it made mostly of metal?
Why ask it
Material narrows faster than color does. Run through metal, wood, plastic, glass, cloth and paper one at a time, and take 'partly' as a sign of something assembled from several pieces, like scissors, a chair or an umbrella.
Do you wear it?
Why ask it
One yes covers clothes, shoes, jewelry, glasses, watches and helmets. Then find the part of the body by halves: above the waist first, then head or hands.
Can you eat or drink it?
Why ask it
Food is a favorite pick, and guessers tend to forget it counts as an object until someone asks. After a yes, good splits are sweet or savory, hot or cold, and whether it comes in a package.
Is it mainly kept in the kitchen?
Why ask it
Start the room-by-room walk here, since a kitchen is crowded with small objects everyone can name. Then try the bathroom, the bedroom, the garage and the yard. An answer of 'any room' suggests a light switch, a clock, a door or a phone.
Does it have wheels?
Why ask it
After a yes, ask whether it has an engine, which separates cars and motorcycles from bikes, strollers, suitcases and shopping carts. It is also a quick way to rule out vehicles before you spend questions on furniture.
Is it mainly for fun?
Why ask it
The line here runs between toys, games, instruments and sports gear on one side and tools and appliances on the other. A yes on something small is probably a toy, a ball or a game piece, so ask next whether it is meant for kids.
Do I own one?
Why ask it
You know your own belongings better than anyone, so a yes swaps the whole world for the contents of your home and your bag. If the answerer cannot say, they have told you it is not something they have seen at your place.
How to play Twenty Questions and guess more often
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How a round works
The basic game
One player, the answerer, thinks of something and keeps it secret. Everyone else takes turns asking questions that can be answered yes or no, up to twenty in total. Guess it within twenty and the guessers win; run out and the answerer does. Usually whoever made the right guess picks next.
Settle the house rules before question one
Four things cause most of the arguments, so decide them first. Does the opener count toward the twenty? Does a wrong guess use up a question? Are spelling questions allowed? How well known does the answer have to be? No rulebook settles any of these, so whatever the group agrees is the rule.
What the answerer is allowed to say
Yes and no cover most questions. 'Sometimes', 'partly' and 'I don't know' are fair when they are true, and a good answerer uses them instead of forcing a misleading yes. The answerer may not change the answer mid-round, and should own up at once on realizing an earlier reply was wrong.
Not the same game as 21 Questions
Twenty Questions is the guessing game. 21 Questions is the get-to-know-you game, where two people trade personal questions and there is nothing to guess. If that is the one you were looking for, the yes-or-no questions on this page will not help much.
Narrowing the field
Aim to cut what is left in half
The best question is one whose answer you cannot predict. If you are nearly sure the reply will be no, asking teaches you little. Twenty clean halvings are enough to tell apart more than a million things, which is why the game can be won at all.
Go from wide to narrow, in the order of the list
Use Openers until you know the category, Narrowing until you have a size and a setting, then switch to the finishing questions for that category: Animals and plants, People, Places or Objects. Asking 'Is it a dog?' at question three is a guess dressed up as a question, and it nearly always wastes a turn.
Say what you know out loud
Every five questions, have someone recap: 'real, not alive, made by people, smaller than a breadbox, kept in a kitchen.' The recap stops a group from asking the same thing twice, and hearing the clues in a row is often what produces the answer.
Listen to how the answer comes
A fast yes, a long pause and a 'well, sort of' are three different answers. Hesitation usually means your question sits on a boundary, such as a tomato when you ask about vegetables, and the boundary is a clue.
When to start guessing
Hold your guesses until you can name no more than three or four candidates. If guesses count as questions, keep at least two in reserve for the end. If you reach question fifteen with a long list, ask one more narrowing question before you spend a guess.
Picking something to be guessed
Choose something everyone playing knows
A round is only fun if the answer makes people groan when they hear it. The drummer from your favorite obscure band will not do that. A giraffe, the Eiffel Tower or the family car will.
Decide exactly what you mean
Before you say 'ready', settle whether you are thinking of one specific thing or a kind of thing, and whether it is real. Many of the answers that feel unfair come from an answerer who had not decided.
Playing with young kids
Keep to animals, foods and things in the room, and let the child be the answerer early, since answering is easier than asking. Expect a wrong reply or two and treat it as part of the game. A shorter limit, ten questions say, suits a short attention span.
In the car or over text
The game needs no board, pen or screen, which is why it survives long drives. In a car, limiting answers to things you could see on the trip makes an easier round. Over text, number each question so nobody loses count.
When a round goes wrong
The answers stop adding up
Go back through the recap and ask which reply the answerer was least sure of. One shaky answer, usually to a science or geography question, is enough to send a whole group down the wrong branch. It is fair to ask a doubtful question again in different words.
You are at fifteen with no idea
Stop narrowing the branch you are on and test an assumption instead. Groups get stuck because they decided early that it was, say, a household object, when the answerer had said 'sometimes' to indoors. Ask something that would surprise you if it came back yes.
A dispute over a yes or a no
Is a tomato a vegetable? Does a penguin count as a bird that flies? During the round, the answerer's honest understanding is what counts. Save the debate for afterward, and if a reply really was wrong, call the round a draw.
Twenty questions gone and nobody has it
The answerer reveals the answer and takes the win. If the group was close, the answerer can offer three bonus questions, as long as the offer comes before the reveal. Then hand the next turn to whoever asked the most useful question.