Who Am I?

Players and equipment

Three to twelve, each with a phone. The names come from the players — everyone writes one before the game — or from the app's library of people, for a table that wants to start at once.

The deal

The app deals one name to each player, never the one they wrote and never their own. Every phone shows everybody else's name; yours is the one it hides. Keep your phone to yourself only in that nobody needs to see it: there is nothing on it that is secret from you except your own name, and that is the game.

Play

Going round the table from a starting seat that moves each game, each player asks one yes-or-no question about themselves — am I alive, am I a woman, am I in films — and the table answers from what their phones say. A yes earns another question; a no passes the turn on. The table's own rules say the rest: whether a guess counts as a question, whether an unsure answer is a no.

When you think you know, say it out loud. The table can see your name, so the table says yes or no. Yes, and you tap Got it on your phone: you are solved and take the next place. The host can tap it for you.

Scoring

First to work out their name

3

Three points

Second

2

Two points

Third

1

One point

Everybody else scores nothing. A game is one match, and the leaderboard counts matches by the podium.

A worked game

Five players. Round the table: "Am I alive?" — no, turn on. "Am I a man?" — yes; "Did I act?" — yes; "Was I in black and white?" — no; "Did I play a spy?" — yes. "Am I Sean Connery?" — yes, says the table, and a tap on Got it makes it first place, three points. Play goes on until one player is left, who scores nothing, and the next game deals.

Ending

The match ends when one player is left unsolved. The next game deals fresh names — written again, with our own names, or dealt again from the library.

Asking

Halve the field with every question: alive or dead, real or made up, man or woman, screen or page. Only once the field is small do names come into it.

Writing a name

Write somebody the whole table knows and nobody would guess in three questions. A name only you know is a game nobody enjoys; a name everybody guesses at once is no game at all.

How do you play Who Am I?

Everyone writes a name; the app deals one to each player, never their own, and shows every phone everybody else's name. Players ask yes-or-no questions about themselves in turn. Type your guess when you think you know; first to get it wins.

Can I see my own name?

No — that is the game. Once the table has said yes and you have tapped Got it, your phone shows it.

Do I type my guess?

No. Say it; the table confirms it; tap Got it. The app never checks the words.

What if I write a name nobody knows?

The player who gets it will be asking all night. Write somebody the whole table knows.

How many players?

Three at the least, and it is at its best from four to eight. With our own names, everyone writes one; with the library, the app deals one each.

Is there a time limit?

Not in the app. The turn timer on the Host tab can clock the questions if the table wants one.