Playing games (guess who)...
Category: Statistics
Published: 03/11/2009 09:33 a.m.
Along with playing complex games like Monopoly, I also enjoy seemingly simpler games such as Guess Who. If you do not remember, Guess Who is the gaming of eliminating people based on their traits to try and guess who your opponent is. The set I have has to boards (red and blue) that each have 24 flip-up faces of characters in the game. You flip down these faces as you try and narrow down your search.
The basic gameplay goes as follows. You and your opponent each choose a card which has a person on it. Then, you ask each other yes or no questions about the cards you have chosen. So, you may ask "Does your person have red hair?" or "Is your person a woman?". You alternate asking questions and eliminating people until one of you correctly guesses who the other person is. Sounds very simple, and it is, but there is still some tricks involved.
Basic strategy would suggest that each round you ask the question that can eliminate the most people. Most of the specific traits are broken into fives. 5 people with red hair, 5 with hats, 5 women, 5 with blue eyes. As you go through these, the numbers lessen since you have already taken out some. Once you hit a Yes you are still left with some tough questions to ask to further reduce the field since most people with 1 commonality (hair color) don't have another (glasses, beard, etc.). This is where the tricks come in. Depending on who you play with, you may be able to use some more powerful questions such as "Does he have any facial hair?" which can eliminate 8 or "Does their name contain 4 or less letters?" which can trim 9.
The other side of the strategy is how you lay down you players. I like to leave some of the 'wrong' options up during the game to confuse my opponent on how close I am to guessing. This is because the time at which you decide to make a final guess can usually depend on how close your opponent is to guessing who you are. One possible end result could be with one person left with 2 choices and the other left with 3. As the person left with 3, you are better off guessing, then hoping your opponent misses, then guessing again. Additionally, if you leave up a couple of duds, you can trick your opponent with two left into asking a final question so that they will have a positive guess. This strategy depends on your ability to remember who you have already eliminated, but it generally only requires 2 or 3 extra people up. Then, near the end, when it appears you have 3 people still left, you may know exactly who your opponent is, and because they do not see your side with a single person up, they do not feel the pressure to guess at your identity, and will be caught off guard by your accurate guess the next turn.
To end, I would like to cover a common beginner mistake. Do not immediately flip down the person who you have drawn. While you know for certain that they are not going to be the one your opponent has, you do not need to knock it down. It's better left up as a distraction. Also, if your opponent has played so much they have memorized your side of the board, they can easily guess who you are. It happens. Just ask my mom about some of our old matches...