Questions to Ask in Guess Who
For parents, kids and anyone who wants to win at Guess Who, the face-guessing board game where each turn is one yes-or-no question. The 50 questions follow a game from the first turn to the last: Openers, Half splits, Mid-game and Endgame, then a silly set For kids and the House rules to settle before you start, with notes on how many faces a question tends to remove. The counts are for the classic 24-face board, so count your own edition before trusting them.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Openers
Can you see hair on the top of your person's head?
Why ask it
Few plain questions come closer to an even split on the classic board: the bald faces and the hat wearers both get a no, which is around ten faces against fourteen. Tap the crown of your own head as you ask, so a hat with hair poking out at the sides is not answered yes.
Does your person have dark hair?
Why ask it
Black and brown hair together come to about nine faces on the classic board, so either answer flips down a good share of the frames. It is also the strong opener a young child can ask and answer without help. After a yes, ask next whether the hair is black.
Is your person wearing anything on their head or face?
Why ask it
Hats and glasses folded into one question reach nine or ten of the classic 24 faces. A yes leaves a short row you can sort with a hat question next turn, and a no clears every accessory off your board at once.
Does your person have facial hair?
Why ask it
Beards and mustaches asked together cover roughly a third of the classic board, which beats asking about either one alone. A yes sets up the mustache question for your next turn, and a no leaves you every woman and the clean-shaven men.
Is your person a woman?
Why ask it
The opener most players reach for, and on the classic 24-face board the weakest one in this group: only about five faces are women, so the likely no flips down just those five. Some newer editions have a far more even mix, which makes it a true half split, so count before you ask.
Does your person have light hair, either blond or white?
Why ask it
About ten classic faces, so it splits as well as anything in this group. It is not the dark hair question turned around, though: the redheads get a no to both, which is worth remembering when you flip.
Is your person plain, with no hat, no glasses and no facial hair?
Why ask it
The plain faces are the hardest to pin down later, so it helps to learn early whether you are hunting one. About seven of the classic 24 qualify. Other editions run anywhere from a small corner to nearly half the board, so count yours.
Half splits
Does your person have white hair, a hat or glasses?
Why ask it
Three small groups stacked into one question land near half of the classic board, which no single feature manages. If your opponent objects to the 'or', the rule sheet in most editions asks only for a question with a yes or no answer, so let the house decide.
Is your person a woman, or a man with a beard or mustache?
Why ask it
On the classic board this comes within a face or two of an even split. Say it slowly and have your opponent repeat it back, because a three-part question answered wrong can lose you the game without either of you noticing.
Is your person a man with no hat and no glasses?
Why ask it
Subtracting works as well as adding. Take the hats and the glasses out of the men on the classic board and about twelve faces are left, an even split from a question with no 'or' in it. A no leaves you every woman plus the men with something on.
Does your person's name start with a letter from A to G?
Why ask it
Names ignore the drawings altogether, so you can put the cut wherever half the names fall. On the original set of names that point sits around G. Run a finger down your own board to find it, and check first that name questions are allowed at your table.
Does your person's name have the letter E in it?
Why ask it
A second name question for when the alphabet split is spent. Choose whichever letter shows up in about half the names still standing, and spell the names aloud for a child who is still learning to read.
Does your person's name have more than one syllable?
Why ask it
Clap the names out together and the classic board divides close to evenly, the one-clap names on one side and the rest on the other. It also brings a new reader into the name questions without any spelling.
Is your person one of these twelve?
Why ask it
Read out any twelve names and you have the bluntest split there is: exactly half, every time, and five such questions are enough to single out one face from 24. It also turns the game into reciting lists, so expect an objection and raise it before the first game instead of springing it.
Is your person on the left half of the board?
Why ask it
Only fair, and only useful, when both boards have the faces in the same places, so compare them before you try it. Where the layouts match it removes exactly half of a full board. Where they differ, the answer tells you nothing true.
Mid-game
Does your person have a hat on?
Why ask it
About five faces on a full classic board, and usually fewer by the middle of the game. Ask when two or three hats still stand among eight or so faces. With a single hat left, save it for the endgame.
Does your person wear glasses?
Why ask it
Nobody gets this one wrong, not even a small child, and a reliable answer is worth more than a clever split. It pays best while three or four pairs are still standing among your faces.
Does your person have a mustache?
Why ask it
Best asked after a yes to facial hair, when it separates the mustaches from the beards. A face with both counts for either question, so look at it twice before you flip.
Does your person have a beard?
Why ask it
The usual slip is a face with a mustache and a bare chin, which a hurried opponent answers yes for. Trace your own jaw as you ask so you both mean the same thing, and expect it to move only four or five classic faces.
Does your person have black hair?
Why ask it
The follow-up to a yes on dark hair. About five of the nine dark-haired classic faces are black-haired and the rest brown, so it cuts that group nearly in half. Ask about black and not brown, because brown is the color players disagree over.
Does your person have blond hair?
Why ask it
Worth asking after a no to dark hair, when blond, red and white are what remain and each is roughly a third of them. Yellow and orange look alike on worn cards, so hold up an example.
Does your person have red hair?
Why ask it
The classic redheads are a mixed bunch, some with hats or glasses and some without, so a yes still leaves sorting to do. Have your next question ready before you ask this one.
Is your person's hair white or gray?
Why ask it
Around five classic faces, several of them also bald or in glasses, which makes a yes easy to follow up. On a full board it removes too few to open with, so hold it until ten or fewer are standing.
Is your person bald?
Why ask it
On the classic board the bald faces mostly keep a ring of hair around the sides, so say 'bald on top' if your opponent hesitates. Roughly five classic faces qualify, and a no this late in a game often flips down just one or two.
Does your person have blue eyes?
Why ask it
The smallest detail on the card and an easy one to answer wrong. Brown eyes are the rule on the classic board and blue the exception, so a no removes only a handful. Ask it in good light and leave it out when your opponent is very young.
Does your person have rosy cheeks?
Why ask it
A classic-board feature that some newer editions drop, so check that anyone has them at all. Where they exist, it breaks ties among faces that match on hair, hat and glasses.
Does your person have a big nose?
Why ask it
Arguments live here. Before asking, point at the two or three noses you mean and get a nod. Without that, the answer is an opinion and you may flip down the very face you are looking for.
Does your person's hair reach their shoulders?
Why ask it
On a board with few women a no removes almost nobody. Treat it as a follow-up to a yes on the woman question, where it can split the handful still standing, and ask it sooner only on editions that draw long-haired men.
Is your person wearing earrings?
Why ask it
Small, but easier to spot than eye color once you look for them. Often only two or three faces qualify, which makes this a late question for telling apart the faces that a yes to the woman question left you.
Is your person showing their teeth?
Why ask it
Hardly anyone thinks to ask about mouths, so this can separate two faces that match on everything obvious. Look at your own standing faces first: if they all grin the same way, the answer changes nothing.
Is your person a man with glasses?
Why ask it
A narrow question on purpose, covering maybe four classic faces. When your opponent has far fewer frames standing than you, an even split will not catch you up and a long shot that pays off will. When you are ahead, leave it alone.
Endgame
How many faces do you have left?
Why ask it
The one question on this page that is not a yes or no. It should not cost a turn, since the standing frames can be counted from across the table anyway, but say that before you ask. The answer decides whether you keep narrowing or gamble on a guess.
Is your person one of these two?
Why ask it
With four faces standing, naming two of them leaves you a pair whichever way the answer goes. Where list questions are banned, look for any feature exactly two of the four share, which does the same job.
Is your person the one in the hat?
Why ask it
For three faces left: ask about the thing only one of them has. A yes tells you the face outright and a no leaves two, which is as well as any question can do from three. It is a feature question, not a guess, so a no costs you nothing.
Is your person the one with the darker hair?
Why ask it
Two last faces that match on hat, glasses and beard can nearly always be told apart by comparing them with each other. Choose this over a coin-flip guess whenever your opponent still has three or more frames up.
Is this your person?
Why ask it
Said while holding up or naming one face, this is the guess, and under the rule sheet in most editions a wrong one loses the game on the spot. Make it with one face standing, or with two when your opponent is a turn away from winning.
Can you check your card again for me?
Why ask it
For the moment when every face left seems wrong, or none are left at all. One mistaken answer or one frame knocked flat by accident is the usual reason, and with a child it is kinder to recheck together than to declare a winner.
For kids
Does your person look happy?
Why ask it
For the youngest players, who can read a smile long before they can sort hair colors. Count the smiles on your board first: where nearly everyone is grinning a yes removes only a few. A small child still gets to answer correctly, and that keeps them at the table.
Does your person have the same hair color as me?
Why ask it
It ties the board to someone the child can look at, which helps a beginner who does not yet have the color words. It removes about as many as any single hair color would: a handful on a no, most of the board on a yes.
Does your person's name start with the same letter as mine?
Why ask it
Children love to ask this and it almost never helps, since one or two names at most will match. Let it through anyway: a yes thrills them, and a no is a quick lesson in why small groups make slow questions.
Does your person's name rhyme with 'ham'?
Why ask it
Invent a rhyme for any name still standing and you have a question that removes exactly one face on a no. It is terrible strategy and early readers enjoy it, so save it for a round nobody is trying to win.
Does your person look like they would love broccoli?
Why ask it
The silly version: any opinion question is fair, the answerer's word is final, and each player flips down whoever they think does not fit. Nobody can play it perfectly, which evens things out between a six-year-old and a parent.
Does your person look like they have a dog at home?
Why ask it
Children answer this one with total confidence and can usually explain why. Ask for the reason before you flip anything: the explanation is the fun, and it shows you which faces they would have kept.
Does your person look like a teacher?
Why ask it
Glasses and gray hair tend to earn a yes, which makes this a feature question in disguise and an easy bridge to the real game. Follow it with 'What made you say that?' to get the feature named.
Does your person look like someone we know?
Why ask it
Expect a delighted yes and a name: an uncle, a neighbor, a coach. It removes nothing unless you agree on who resembles whom, but it gets a reluctant small child studying every face on the board.
House rules
Are 'or' questions allowed in this game?
Why ask it
Ask it before the cards are drawn. The answer decides which part of this page you can use: with 'or' allowed the Half splits are open to you, and without it you are playing from Openers and Mid-game.
Can I ask about the names?
Why ask it
The names printed under the faces have nothing to do with the drawings, which is why letter and syllable questions split so evenly and why some players call them cheating. Get the yes or no out loud at the start. A ban announced after your A to G question has been answered is hard to enforce.
Can I guess on the same turn as my question?
Why ask it
Rule sheets in most editions make a guess take a whole turn. Letting a player ask and then guess speeds up the ending and makes a gamble less tempting, so settle it before either of you is down to two.
What happens if I guess wrong?
Why ask it
The printed answer in most editions is that you lose the game. A gentler house version costs you only the turn, which stops one wild guess from ending a small child's game in tears. Whichever you choose changes how early a guess is worth the risk.
Does at least one of your two people wear a hat?
Why ask it
For the two-card variant, where each player draws two mystery faces and must name both to win. A no clears every hat at once, while a yes clears nothing yet, so follow it with 'Do both?' The variant keeps older kids and adults interested once the single-card game feels solved.
How to choose your question each turn
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How a turn works
One question, then flip
Each turn you ask one question your opponent can answer with yes or no, then flip down every face the answer rules out. Say aloud which ones you are flipping the first few times you play with a child. It catches mistakes while they can still be fixed.
Count before you ask
The best question is the one that splits the faces you still have standing as close to half as you can get. That changes every turn, so count: how many of your standing faces would get a yes? If the number is near half, ask. If it is one or two out of ten, look for something else.
Why half is the target
A question that covers five faces out of 24 usually gets a no and removes five. A question that covers twelve removes twelve whichever way it goes. Asking about one small feature at a time can take twice as many turns, while an even split every turn gets from 24 faces to one in five questions.
Where the numbers on this page come from
The counts in the notes are for the classic board, where most features were given to about five of the 24 faces. Editions have changed the faces more than once. Before a first game on a new board, spend two minutes counting women, hats, glasses and each hair color, and you will know your own openers.
Playing to win
Stack features with 'or'
Where the house allows it, join two or three small groups until they add up to about half of what is standing: a hat or glasses, red or blond hair or a beard. Rebuild the question every turn from the faces you have left. A combination that was half the board on turn one may be a single face by turn three.
Ahead, split evenly. Behind, gamble
If you have fewer faces standing than your opponent, keep cutting in half and you should stay ahead. If you are well behind, even splits will only keep you behind, so ask something narrow that covers two or three of your faces. Most of the time it misses and changes little. When it lands, you are back in the game.
When to guess
Guess when one face is standing. With two standing, look across the table first. If your opponent has three or more frames up, ask the question that separates your pair and name the face next turn. If they are down to one, they will win on their turn, so a coin-flip guess is your best remaining chance. Check your rule sheet for the cost of a wrong guess: in most editions it loses the game.
Watch their board, not their questions
Your opponent's questions are about your card, so they tell you nothing about theirs. Their board is what matters: glance at how many frames they flip after each answer. That count, more than your own progress, decides whether you can afford a careful endgame.
Playing with younger kids
Start with the features they can name
Hats, glasses and hair color are the features the youngest players answer most reliably. Leave eye color, noses and cheeks for later. A wrong answer from a small child is nearly always a looking problem, so recheck the card together instead of correcting them.
Play it open first
For a first game, put both mystery cards face up and take turns asking questions anyway. The child sees why a no to glasses flips those faces down, and the flipping rule, which is the hard part, becomes clear before any secret is involved.
Give the adult a handicap
Let the child ask two questions per turn, or have the adult stick to single-feature questions while the child may use anything on this page. Either way the game stays close without anyone playing badly on purpose, which children notice.
Keep a silly round in reserve
When attention fades, switch to the opinion questions under For kids: who looks like they have a dog, who loves broccoli. Nobody can be wrong and nobody can win by being clever, which is what a tired child needs from the last game of the night.
House rules to settle before the first card
'Or' questions
The rule sheet asks for yes-or-no questions and, in most editions, says little more. Some families allow any combination, some allow two features but not three, some allow none. All of these work as long as both players know which game they are in.
Names, positions and lists
Questions about the names printed under the faces, about where a face sits on the board, or that read out a list of faces all work as splits and all skip the drawings. Many houses ban some or all of them to keep the game about faces. If you allow position questions, check that both boards are laid out the same way.
Same-turn guesses and wrong guesses
By the printed rules in most editions a guess is your whole turn, and a wrong one loses the game. Allowing a question and a guess together makes games shorter, and letting a wrong guess cost only the turn makes endings gentler for young players. Pick before the game, since both change what the player with two faces left should do.
Two mystery cards
Each player draws two cards and the winner is the first to name both. Questions become 'Does at least one of your people...' and 'Do both...', and a yes no longer lets you flip freely. It suits anyone who can already finish the standard game in five or six turns.