Good questions to ask in a guessing game

We have all done it: asked about one exact face on turn one and flipped a single card. A good question flips half the board. Below: what to ask first, what to save for last, and what to skip.

1. Start with what you see from far away

Hats, glasses, beards and long hair: you spot them on every card in a second, even a tiny one. And on most boards about half the people have one, so each answer flips about half the cards. Open with these.

For example:

• Does your person have a hat?
• Does your person have glasses?
• Does your person have facial hair?
• Does your person have long hair?

2. Then ask about colours

When the big things are used up, colours take over: hair, eyes, clothes. Pick a colour that about half the cards left have. Asking about a colour only one card has is a guess, not a question.

For example:

• Does your person have black hair?
• Does your person have blue clothes?
• Does your person have brown eyes?

3. Save the small details for the end

Ears, eyebrows, noses and freckles are small and easy to get wrong, and a wrong answer can flip the very card you are looking for. Save them for the end, when two or three cards are left and you can look closely at each one.

For example:

• Does your person have big ears?
• Does your person have angry eyebrows?
• Does your person have freckles?

4. Questions to skip

Skip a question if every card left gives the same answer: it flips nothing. And ask about what is there, never what is missing. Ask "Does your person have a hat?", not "Does your person have no hat?": a No to that one means Yes, a hat, and everyone gets mixed up.

5. On a board of your own photos

On photos of friends and family the same rules work. Look for what everyone can see: a hat, glasses, a beard, a smile, a bright top. Skip things people argue about, like who looks oldest. If two people would answer differently, pick another question.

Want to know why half and half works so well? Read Yes or no: how to ask questions that win.