Twenty Questions - Popular Variants

Popular Variants

The most popular variant is called "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral." This is taken from the Linnaean taxonomy of the natural world. In this version, the answerer tells the questioners at the start of the game whether the subject belongs to the animal, vegetable or mineral kingdom. These categories can produce odd technicalities, such as a wooden table being classified as a vegetable (since wood comes from trees), or a belt being both animal and mineral (because its leather comes from the hide of an animal unless it is synthetic, and its buckle is made of metal).

Other versions specify that the item to be guessed should be in a given category, such as actions, occupations, famous people, etc. In Hungary, a similar game is named after Simon bar Kokhba. A version of Twenty Questions called Yes and No is played as a parlor game by characters of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

In another version, the answerer claims to have a story in mind and the questioners are to attempt to obtain and retell the story via twenty questions. But, without the questioners' knowing, the answerer actually has no story in mind, and answers the questions "yes" or "no" according to some set rule, such as whether the question ends in a vowel or consonant (and "maybe" if the question ends in "y"). After the twenty questions the questioners try to retell the story according to the answers, which results in laughs for everyone.