Guessing Game for Families on the Go

This game can be played any time when there are long waiting times or car rides, great especially to play with kids.

Number of players: 2-8
Ages: 3+
Stimulates curiosity, creativity, and logical thinking.

I started playing this game with my nephew, when I was baby-sitting him many years ago. Now I play it with my husband and our children any time we need to kill time: on long car rides, while waiting at the restaurant, at the airport, on walks, literally anyplace. The coolest thing about this game is that it’s totally free and you don’t need any supplies.

In many instances I ended up learning things about animals, like the time when my son asked: “Does this animal sleep?” And I said “Yes” and he commented “Oh, so it can’t be an ant.” “What?? You mean ants do not sleep?” I never heard of such a thing, and it turns out some species of ants do not sleep.

With time we developed slightly different versions of the game. Here it goes.

The younger person will start thinking of an animal, without revealing it to the others.

Players take turns asking questions about the mystery animal. After Player 1, the thinker, answers a question, any player can try to guess the animal.

Example:
Player 2: “What size is the mystery animal: big, medium or small?”
Player 1: “Big”
Player 3: “Is it an elephant?”
Player 1: “No”
Player 3: “What does it eat?”
Player 1: “it’s carnivorous”

And the game continues until one of the opponents guesses the secret animal. The prize for guessing right is to be the “thinker” for the next round.

(By the way, in case you are wondering, I was thinking about a T-Rex).

The Yes or No version makes it a little more difficult to guess, especially for young children. Player 1 thinks of a mystery animal, the others take turns asking questions, but this time the questions can only have a Yes or No answer.

Example:
Player 2: “Is it a medium size animal?”
Player 1: “No”
Player 3: “Does it eat meat?”
Player 1: “Yes”

The “thing” to guess can be anything, from objects, to places, to people, etc. When you play this on the Yes or No version it can get really difficult to guess, to the point to be frustrating. So it’s recommended that the thinker specifies what broad category includes what he’s thinking about.

We have played this game on long car rides, in doctors' waiting rooms, on trains, walks, picnics, and on rainy days.

Anytime my kids say things like "are we there yet?" or "I'm bored", my mind tries automatically to find an easy solution, and often the first thing I say is "I'm thinking of an animal, can you guess which one it is?"... and it just picks up from there.

I hope you enjoy playing this game as much as we do.