Whosit?
Whosit? Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
Playing Board 20 Character Cards 48 Question Cards 6 Answer Chips Answer Box
Preparation for 3 to 6 players
Place the board on the center of the table. Shuffle the Question cards and deal seven cards face-down to each player (deal five cards to each player in a five or six player game). Place the remaining Question cards face-down on the center of the board. Shuffle the Character cards and deal one card, face-down to each player. Players will assume the identity of their character throughout the game. Each player should keep his own Character card face-down in front of him, near the board. He may refer to his card as often as he wishes. The remaining Character cards are set aside and are not used in the game. Select a player to begin. Play then follows to the left.
Each of the twenty characters around the game board is represented by a Character card. During the game you will ask questions from the cards in your hand as you try to guess the secret identity of the other players in the game. While all the characters on the board may look like pleasant folks - watch out! There are a few oddballs in the group like the Director, Censor, Gangster and Spy. You'll soon learn to keep your eye on this foursome.
For easy reference each Character card includes a complete description of that particular person, although, in the case of the four corner characters, you will find their answers may not coincide with their descriptions.
Before starting to play, we suggest that you look through the deck of Character cards to familiarize yourself with their descriptions. The back page of this booklet lists all the characters in the game.
Play
On your turn, you may ask any player a question from one of the cards in your hand. All questions must be answered either "Yes" or "No". If the player who is asked answers "Yes", the card used to ask the question is placed face-up, off the board, in front of the player who was asked, with the words facing toward the center of the table. By doing this, the Question card becomes a visual clue for all the players.
EXAMPLE: A player is asked if he is Male. The player refers to his Character card and answers "Yes". The "Male" Question card is placed face-up in front of the player for all to see throughout the rest of the game.
An ASK ANY QUESTION card is played according to the above rule. The person playing the card may ask any one of the questions listed on the card.
As long as you receive a "Yes" answer, you draw a new Question card from the deck and ask another question. You may ask the same player or any other player.
When you receive a "NO" answer you may elect to try to guess the identity of all the other players (see GUESSING) or you must pass your turn to the next player. Place your used Question card (the card which got a "NO" answer) face-up on the discard pile on the center of the board and draw a new card from the deck to replenish your hand. The turn passes to the next player.
With the exception of the four corner spaces, the DIRECTOR, the CENSOR, the GANGSTER and the SPY, all players must answer all questions honestly.
The four corner spaces
The SPY and the GANGSTER must lie, answering the opposite to the information on his card.
EXAMPLE: The SPY would answer "NO" when asked if she is female. She would answer "YES" when asked if she is in a Gold room and she would answer "YES" when asked if she is in a Blue room. The GANGSTER would answer "YES" when asked if he wears glasses. He would answer "NO" when asked if he has a hat or helmet.
The CENSOR must answer "NO" to every question she is asked.
EXAMPLE: The CENSOR would answer "No" when asked if she wears glasses. She would answer "No" when asked if she is an adult.
The DIRECTOR is the most difficult to guess because he may answer "YES" or "NO" to any question. He may lie or tell the truth.
The DIRECTOR may be guessed by the process of elimination or he may be trapped by his own trickiness. When playing the DIRECTOR, it is often wise to choose another character on the board and answer all questions as if you were that other character.
NOTE: If you realize that you have answered a question inaccurately, the game should be stopped because it will be impossible for other players to identify "who" you are. A new game is begun with new Character cards for each player.
Guessing
You may try to guess the identity of all the other players during your turn. You may make your guess:
- without asking questions, or
- after receiving a "YES" answer, or
- after receiving a "NO" answer.
When you think you know who the other players are, announce that you are going to guess. Then, name aloud the identity of every other player in the game.
The Answer Box is then passed around to every player except the one making the guess. Under the table or out of sight from the other players, each player inserts his chip into the "YES" slot if his identity has been correctly guessed or into the "NO" slot if the guess was incorrect. The corner characters must answer honestly when inserting their chip in the Answer Box.
NOTE: Be sure that you insert your chip into the correct slot. An error could affect the outcome of the game.
After each player has inserted his chip, the Answer Box is returned to the player who is guessing. The player opens the box but does not show or announce the contents to any of the other players. If all the chips are on the "YES" side, the game is over and the guessing player has won. However, if one or more chips are on the "NO" side, the chips are returned to the players and the game continues with the next player. The player who guessed incorrectly remains in the game and may, if he wishes, guess again on his next turn.
Beginners WHOSIT? for young players
The following variations have been developed to help you get into the swing of playing WHOSIT? We suggest that you play both variations at least one time.
VERSION 1 follows the directions of the original game with one exception. Each player is dealt one Character card and the remaining Character cards are placed face-down on the board, on top of their respective spaces. In this way, the characters that are not covered are the characters that are in the game. Now it's up to you to guess which player has which character.
In VERSION 2, the rules are the same as above with one exception. Each player is dealt one Character card and two additional cards are picked at random, without being seen, and set aside for the remainder of the game. The remaining cards are turned face-down on top of their respective spaces on the board.
Two player WHOSIT?
Both players draw two Character cards, separating them face-down in front of them and placing the clues, when they come up, in front of the appropriate Character card. The opponent may ask questions about either character in any order by pointing to the card he is asking about. Experienced players may try this version with three Character cards each.
The Cast
Black Characters: Singer, Football Player, Hero, Rock Star, Dancer, Judge
White Characters: Censor, Genius, Vampire, Director, Stunt Man, Musical Star, Super Woman, Gangster, Cowboy, Starlet
Oriental Characters: Detective, Waiter, Spy, Geisha Girl
The publisher's closing contact address ("We will be glad to answer inquiries concerning these rules") is omitted; it is not rules content.