What's That on My Head?
What's That on My Head? Rulebook
Edition note: these rules are the Egghead (ASS, 2001) edition, translated from the German rule sheet, because no Games Research 1963 rules are available. See the source note in the Table of Contents.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Course of Play
(The following rules apply to the basic game with four, five or six players.)
Egghead consists of 36 playing cards. They bear the letters A, B, C, D, E and G. The F was left out to avoid confusion with the E. There are six of each letter.
Before the game begins, the letter cards are shuffled thoroughly and laid on the table back side up, and the 25 question cards are laid out the same way.
Each participant receives an analysis sheet and a headband. The headband is put on so that the card clip is at the front.
The game leader (determined by vote or by lot) takes the top three cards from the pile and clips them onto the headband of his left neighbour, so that the neighbour cannot see them. This goes round the table until three cards have been clipped onto the game leader's own headband by his right neighbour. Everyone can now clearly see the letter cards of the other players, but not his own.
The game begins with the game leader drawing the top question card and reading it aloud. He must then answer it. Each of these cards contains a more or less simple question. It seems to us to be concisely worded, but it should definitely be discussed by the whole group before it is answered, especially by beginners. This discussion is part of logical thinking and of course also adds to the liveliness of the game. Only when there is agreement about the content of the question does the player who drew the card give the corresponding answer. The answering player must answer precisely, but not more than the question contains, because the answers help him the least. After the question has been answered, his left neighbour takes his turn. And so on, round the table in the direction of the clock, until the game is over. Each answered question card is placed back under the stack of question cards.
Translator's note: the printed sheet reads "präge" where the sense requires "Frage" (question). This is a typographical error in the source and is translated as "question".
By answering the questions precisely, the players receive more and more information which, under the rules of logic, helps them to conclude which cards they have on their own heads. To make better use of the information, first fill in the summary table on your analysis sheet accordingly. There is space for notes below it. (A tip: to put yourself in the position of the player who is answering a question, cover his column with your pencil. You then see the distribution of the cards from his point of view, except, of course, for your own cards.)
If you believe you know what is on your head, you may interrupt the game at any time and make a statement. However, you should be reasonably sure of yourself, because every statement means that your cards are taken away from you and you receive new ones.
If your statement is correct, you receive one point. If you were wrong, you get nothing and at the same time lose your old cards along with the laboriously acquired information. You must therefore start again from the beginning. (The other players, however, keep their cards until they make a statement themselves or until the game ends.)
The game is over when one player has reached five points. (Of course, the players may agree on fewer points to shorten the game.)
Among the question cards are five special cards which contain no question but instructions. Whoever draws such a special card carries out the instruction and then draws the next card. (Some of these special cards allow the player, for example, to make a statement without losing his cards if he is wrong. If he guessed wrongly, the other players point this out to him, without telling him what his card is.)
Finally, it is urgently pointed out that wrong answers seriously endanger the calculations of the other players. Accordingly, players who can be shown to have given a wrong answer, even if the error was unintentional, shall be penalised: they either lose one point or, if they have not yet scored any point, receive a penalty point, which is then cancelled by the next point they win. Alternatively, one can dispense with penalty points and instead award a point to the player who was led by a wrong answer to a conclusion that was logically correct but factually false. If a player believes he has discovered a contradiction in another player's answer, he may put forward a guess about the cards on his own head. If he manages to prove that his statement was the necessary result of a wrong answer, he must be awarded the point. In this case in particular, every player has the opportunity to show his logical acumen.
egghead for Three
If only three players are taking part, a fourth headband is placed on the table, and three cards are clipped onto it, visible to all players. The game then proceeds under the normal rules, but in every answer the cards of the straw man must also be taken into account. If a player changes his cards after a correct statement, the cards of the straw man are changed as well.
egghead for Chicks
egghead is not only for intellectuals. For children from about ten years of age, egghead is an extraordinary thinking exercise of high educational value. The best starting point is to clip on only a single card at first. (In this case, some question cards that no longer apply must be set aside beforehand.) Gradually, the number of cards can be increased.
egghead for Eggheads
Once you have thoroughly mastered the regular game and have become a master of logical reasoning, you can move on to a more difficult variant. Instead of three, any number of cards (from zero to six) is now clipped onto each player's head, so you must work out not only which letter cards you have on your head, but also how many. (Caution: if the special card "You may take any card from your head . . ." is drawn, in this variant it is carried out by the player on the right.)