How to Play Lookabout

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Lookabout is a sharp-eyed observation parlour game for four or more players in which a small object is hidden in plain sight and the challenge is to spot it without giving its location away to anyone still searching. There is no running, no rummaging, and no equipment beyond a single small object, which makes it a practical choice when you need something that fills a room and runs itself.

It earns its place at family gatherings because the skill gap between adults and children is narrower than in most games: a patient six-year-old often outperforms an impatient adult. It plays equally well in a living room, a large kitchen, or any space with enough surfaces and clutter to give the hider genuine options.

A little history

The origins of Lookabout are not well documented. It belongs to a broad family of Victorian and Edwardian parlour observation games, and versions of the premise appear in late nineteenth-century collections of drawing-room amusements published in Britain and the United States. Traditionally it was played after dinner when the company was already gathered in one room. Beyond that general placing in the parlour-game tradition, the precise origin of the name and any fixed codification of rules remain unclear.

Setting up

1. Choose a room with a reasonable number of surfaces, shelves, and objects already in place.
2. Agree on the boundaries of the search area before the first round, typically the four walls of the room including all furniture within them.
3. Select one player to be the first Hider. All other players leave the room and wait out of earshot.
4. The Hider places the object somewhere within the agreed boundaries. It must be visible from at least one standing or seated position in the room without moving any other object. It may not be placed inside a drawer, cupboard, or box, or obscured by another item laid over it.
5. The Hider calls the other players back into the room.

How to play

1. All searching players enter the room together and begin looking with their eyes only. No player may touch, move, or lift any object in the room.
2. Players move around the room normally but must not point, gesture towards, or otherwise indicate the object's location to other players.
3. As soon as a player spots the hidden object, they say nothing and show nothing. They find a seat or a clear standing position away from the object and sit or stand quietly, giving no hint of where they were looking when they found it.
4. Play continues with seated players watching the remaining searchers. Seated players must not react, smirk, look towards the object, or give any sign when another player gets close.
5. The last player still searching, who has not yet found the object, loses the round and scores one penalty point.
6. Optionally, once all but the last player are seated, the Hider may call time rather than waiting, awarding the penalty to the last standing searcher.
7. The player who lost the round becomes the Hider for the next round and removes the object to reset.
8. Play continues for an agreed number of rounds, or until every player has been the Hider at least once.

Winning and scoring

The player with the fewest penalty points at the end of the agreed number of rounds wins. If two or more players are tied on the lowest score, play one further round as a tiebreaker with only the tied players searching. In a short session with younger children, simply playing until each person has been the Hider once and declaring the player who was last to find the object fewest times the winner works just as well.

The fine points

The most common dispute is whether an object is truly visible without moving anything. The standard ruling is that if the Hider can demonstrate a sightline from a position reachable by any player of ordinary height standing or sitting in the room, the placement is legal. If the object is wedged behind something such that it can only be seen from one very specific angle at floor level, the group may fairly ask for a rehide before searching begins. Agree this check before the round starts rather than arguing mid-game.

Giving away the location accidentally is the other flashpoint. A player who visibly reacts, redirects their gaze, or audibly exhales when another searcher passes near the object should receive a warning on the first offence and a penalty point on a second offence in the same round. The spirit of the game is the collective deadpan, and enforcing it firmly keeps the game interesting for whoever is still searching.

How to win more often

• When hiding, place the object at an unexpected height rather than an unexpected location. Eye level on a busy shelf is far harder to find than the obvious low shelf everyone checks first.
• When you sit down after finding the object, choose a seat that tells the remaining searchers nothing. Sitting directly opposite the object, or refusing to look anywhere near it, are both tells.
• Scan the room methodically in horizontal bands from floor to ceiling rather than chasing your instinct. Objects placed in plain sight rely on your brain dismissing them as familiar.
• If you are still searching while everyone else is seated, slow down. Rushing makes you look at things without actually seeing them, and the seated players' stillness will not help you if you are moving too fast to notice it.
• As Hider, resist the urge to place the object in the same style of location every round. Players learn your habits quickly and will narrow their search to your preferred surfaces within two or three rounds.

Variations

Hot and Cold

In this version the Hider guides the last remaining searcher verbally once all other players are seated, calling out warmer as the searcher moves closer to the object and colder as they move away. This variation suits younger or less experienced players and keeps the final stage of each round lively rather than drawn out.

Timed Lookabout

Each searching player is given a set time limit, typically two minutes, to find the object. Any player who fails within the time receives a penalty point, and multiple players can lose the same round. This increases the pace considerably and works well with larger groups where waiting for a single slow searcher loses the room's attention.

Lookabout Whisper

Once a player finds the object, instead of sitting in silence they approach the Hider and whisper the location. The Hider nods or shakes their head. A correct identification is confirmed quietly and the player sits. An incorrect one means the player continues searching. This variant tests whether you have truly spotted the object or are making a confident guess, and removes the risk of a player faking out by sitting down early.

Team Lookabout

Players are split into two equal teams. One team hides the object while the other searches. The searching team nominates one spokesperson who must whisper the location to the Hider when the team agrees they have found it. The teams record how long each search takes and swap roles each round, with the team achieving the fastest combined search time over an agreed number of rounds declared the winner.

Lookabout: frequently asked questions