Game: 20 Questions

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The Iced One — 2008-06-23T08:17:06+00:00

Dutch version of '20 questions' called 'Quizt't' - game board and game elements

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The Iced One — 2008-06-23T08:15:45+00:00

The Dutch version of '20 questions' called 'Quizt't' (wordplay on 'I knew it')

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The Iced One — 2008-06-23T08:14:33+00:00

Back of the box of the Dutch version of '20 questions' called 'Quizt't'

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The Iced One — 2008-06-23T08:14:02+00:00

Front of the box of the Dutch version of '20 questions' called 'Quizt't'

Thread: Re: Choosing which clue to read

Boah — 2008-05-08T18:59:46+00:00

As we play you are not allowed to read the numbers without actual clues (like pick someone to move ahead etc).
So if at the end no one guesses right (which is most unlikely to happen) you get to walk around 16-18 spaces.

Thread: Re: Choosing which clue to read

Blott — 2008-05-08T18:55:07+00:00

This would make for an interesting party style game, if you abandoned the board and stuff. If you wanted to play with the board, you would have to remove the "clues" that are things like "Move Ahead 2 Spaces" or "Lose a Turn," or else the reader could just pick on whoever is in the lead.

Thread: Choosing which clue to read

Boah — 2008-05-08T16:13:10+00:00

Hi,

This is a cool party game.
But, to make a bit more interesting we sometimes play like this:

Instead of the person who is answering choosing a number from 1 to 20, the person who is reading the clues picks which clue to read. And so on...
This proves to be interesting because sometimes you can even mislead the others by choosing the order in which you read the clues.

If you liked this game and is tired of it, try this variant.

Cheers,

Victor

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Ratio — 2007-09-12T06:23:37+00:00

Sample question card (English version)

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Ratio — 2007-09-12T06:22:35+00:00

Back of question card

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Ratio — 2007-09-12T06:07:47+00:00

Game board

Thread: Joey's Take on 20 Questions

joebelanger — 2007-03-15T19:48:54+00:00

Years ago, my family purchased 20 Questions. Growing up, my family loved to play mystery, deduction, trivia, puzzle and logic games. Also, my siblings and I were raised not only by our parents, but additionally by our television; so we had a lot of popular culture knowledge that was doing us little good elsewhere. 20 Questions was a good fit for us.

20 Questions is played a little differently than the old road trip game of Twenty Questions. There are about 400 cards included with the game. Each of these cards has an unique Person, Place or Things listed on it. Underneath the Person, Place or Thing; there are twenty facts or clues regarding the subject of the card. Players alternate being the Reader. The Reader will read the clues that the players, in turn, ask to be read. There are twenty, small poker chips that come with the game. As the clues are read off, the Reader removes a poker chip from the board and places it in a pile in front of them. If a player thinks that they know who, where or what the subject of the card is, they wait until their turn and instead of having a clue read, they state what they think the card’s subject is. If that player is correct, then that player moves their pawn along the scoring track as many spaces as chips were remaining on the board. Then the Reader scores as many points as chips are in his or her pile. If that player is incorrect, the Reader takes a chip from the board per a normal clue reading. Play continues like this until one player reaches the end of the scoring track, with one exception. There are bonus spaces spaced out along the scoring track that allow a player to participate in a single-player only, mini bonus round. The bonus round will allow that player to move 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 spaces more, should they correctly answer a more difficult five-clue guess card. Other than that the game play is very simplistic and easy to grasp.

What I really like about this game:
- I love trying to solve puzzles and I love attempting to figure out something with limited clues of differing gradation.
- I love popular culture and being able to use some of this trivial knowledge that clutters my head.
- The ability to have everyone playing at the same time was great fun. Everyone was paying attention while it was someone else’s turn. The pace of the game was quick, fun and a little tense.
- Most of the clues were not softballs or complete gimmees. Sometimes you got a clue that was very revealing and other times the clues were dang near useless.
- The game played from 2 to 6 players and scaled really well.

Some issues that I have with 20 Questions:
- Pop culture is not everyone’s bag. Some people have been living under a rock their entire lives and this game is NO fun for them. These culture famine victims will quickly become frustrated with the game and desperately and even somewhat frantically start searching for dark, damp location to slink to.
-As stated in the pro’s section (above) the clues differed on how much they revealed. Sometimes you would get a clue that would say something so vague that you felt ripped off at having wasted a turn going for another clue.
- Sometimes the subject of the card was so obscure that no one would guess the correct answer and some lucky Reader would get to move twenty spaces. That reader would then become loathed and less likely to be invited back to play next time.
- With only 400 cards, frequent play will have you covering ground that you have already covered. So there is some limit to the amount of original play to be had in this game.

20 Questions is a quick game and a lot of fun. The limited replayability, due to the limited amount of clue cards is an issue, but with sporadic play the game will remain fresh. I believe the game is currently out of print, but there are enough copies out there to be found at thrift stores, online auction sites and flea markets. If it’s to be found cheap, pick it up. 20 Questions is a fun party game and worth the couple of bucks that you’ll spend on it.

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Lobo — 2007-01-19T08:17:07+00:00

Box front clear and plain

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tharkad — 2006-12-31T21:42:46+00:00

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texz — 2006-06-23T00:53:30+00:00

One of the many cards of the game. This one is from the second brazilian edition.

Thread: 20 Questions Review

KentuckyKid — 2006-04-03T05:21:08+00:00

I've owned this game since it first appeared in 1988. I played it primarily with my family when I was home from college, because it was one game (along with Trivial Pursuit and a few others) that they were usually willing to play.

Object: Each player's pawn is moved along a scoring track. The player who reaches "FINISH" first is the winner.

Mechanics: The game comes with 400 cards. Each card has an ANSWER (famous PERSON, PLACE, THING, or YEAR) listed on it, along with 20 corresponding CLUES about the ANSWER, numbered 1 to 20. Each card is worth 20 points, and as the round begins, there are 20 plastic disks covering the numbers 1 to 20 on the gameboard. One player is the READER for this round, and the ANSWER is read only by him or her. Starting with the player to the READER's left, the other players take turns choosing one of the remaining covered numbers (1 to 20) and removing that disk from the board. After the READER reads corresponding CLUE aloud, the active player may guess. If the guess is incorrect, the round continues with the next player. If the guess is correct, the player who correctly guessed the ANSWER scores points equal to the number of disks remaining on the board. The READER scores points equal to the number of disks that have been removed. (Thus, excatly 20 points are allocated in each round.) Players move their pawns forward a number of spaces equal to the number of points won. The role of READER now rotates to the next player, and play continues. Players whose pawns land on a "BONUS" space are entitled to a bonus round, where they play a card alone and can win 2, 4, 6, 8 or 10 points for correctly guessing the ANSWER in, respectively, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 clues.

Components: The components are good quality, and are fairly standard for a game of this type. The board is well layed out and well printed, and the cards are durable cardstock. The chips and tokens are hard plastic, and have survived nearly 20 years of occasional play. The cards are large and easy to read.

Rules: The rules are well laid out and easy to follow.

Players: The game is listed for 2 to 6 players, but I wouldn't recommend it with 2. It does work well as a party game for more players playing in teams.

Overall recommendation: This game affords some family fun, but does not work well with children under 10. To enjoy the game, players must generally be familiar with famous people and places. The game probably works best as a party game with adults who are mostly non-gamers. The game is wildly random -- some ANSWERS are easily guessed after one clue, while some (usually the YEARS) go unguessed for a long while. Also, I don't quite understand why the READER gets points -- it is not like he/she did anything to hide the secret ANSWER. The game would probably reward good play more effectively if points were only awarded to the player who made the correct guess.

Overall, I think the game can be fun with the right crowd. It is by no means my favorite family game, but it is a tolerable party style game (and I generally dislike party games). The ANSWERS in the game have held up rather well -- even the famous people used on the cards would still be known to most of the adult U.S. population nearly 20 years after the game was published.

Thread: Excellent Party Game

jollypirate — 2005-12-18T16:23:06+00:00

We picked up this game at a thrift store and almost purged it without playing it as both the design and the content seemed so "blah."

However, this has become our favorite "party game" of late. A great game for non-gamers...it is essentially a trivia game with the hints built in.

A couple of things is has going for it are that EVERYONE plays on every question. People take turns asking for a numbered hint (which occasionally dole out some bonus or punishment rather than information) and then making a guess. Even the person asking the question is participating, they get to move as many spaces as it takes for someone to guess the answer, the person who guesses moves 20 minus that number a head.

The clues range from incredibly vague "I am a 20th century figure" to more pointed "I was friends with Topo Gigot" to punny "I like to play the field."

It's rare that a question isn't answered, and the game provides a nice cross section of people, places, things (and the dreaded) years.

Though there is still alot of luck, there is probably less than with say Trivial Pursuit, and finally those annoying people who claim that they always know the answers to other peoples questions--but never their own--have to put up or shut their yaps.

A nice game.

Thread: Other versions

Dingus — 2003-10-28T22:04:03+00:00

There is also Travel 20 Questions as well as 20 Questions for Kids and 20 Questions Nature and Science (for kids). Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?