Whole Heartily

Part of the fun in raising Zoey is finding things that delight and educate her; I want to find fun, creative board games to play with her during our family game nights! This week we played Guess Who? for 2 players!

This game was a little tougher for Zoey because she is just learning to read, but she wanted to play and when there’s a will there’s a way! She ended up winning our second game together after she got the hang of asking questions and flipping down faces. She made her guess by asking if he was a ship captain with a name that starts with an “E” (for Eric); she was correct!

So let’s play!

IN THE BOX

• 2 plastic game boards
• 48 plastic frames
• 48 face cards
• 24 mystery cards
• Scoring pegs

INSTRUCTIONS

1. The object of the game is to guess the mystery person on your opponent’s card by asking one question per turn, and eliminating any game board faces that don’t fit the mystery person’s description.
2. Each player chooses a game board and places it on a flat surface with the mystery card slot facing them.
3. Both players flip all the frames upright by tipping the game board away from themselves, then settling their game board flat again.
   • Notice the differences among the 24 faces on your game board. Hair, facial hair, eye color, hats and glasses. As you play you’ll notice several other differences among your “suspects”.
4. Shuffle the mystery cards, then each player chooses one card at random and places it into their mystery card slot so that the mystery person faces you (do not let your opponent see your card)! Set the unused mystery cards aside.
5. The youngest player always goes first.
6. Ask your opponent one question per turn and each question must have either a “yes” or “no” answer. 
   • For example, “does your person have white hair?”
7. After your opponent answers, you may be able to eliminate one or more suspects. 
   • For example, if their mystery person has white hair, flip down all the faces that have black, brown, red and yellow hair. That leaves only the white haired people as suspects after your question.
8. After you ask a question (and flip down as many faces as you can), your turn is over.
9. When you’re ready to guess who the mystery person is, make your guess on your turn, instead of asking a question. Don’t use your turn to guess the mystery person until you’re ready! If you guess wrong, you lose the game!
   • To guess the mystery person, say (for example), “The mystery person is Paul.” Your opponent must then tell you whether or not your guess is correct. 
10. If you guess correctly, or your opponent guesses incorrectly, you win the game!

ENJOY!