How to Play What's My Line

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

What's My Line is a spoken parlour game in which one player keeps a secret occupation, role, or identity while everyone else asks yes-or-no questions to work out what it is. It demands clear thinking, careful questioning, and a straight face, and it rewards players who listen closely to every answer already given before they ask the next question.

The game travels well because it needs no equipment whatsoever and scales from a small family gathering to a large party. It is equally at home around a kitchen table after dinner, on a long car journey, or as an icebreaker with a group of adults who do not know each other well.

A little history

The parlour game of guessing an occupation through yes-or-no questions has been played informally for well over a century, though its precise origins are unclear. It gained widespread public recognition in the mid-twentieth century when television programmes of the same name aired in the United States and the United Kingdom, popularising the panel-and-questioner format. The domestic parlour version predates those broadcasts and has traditionally been played without any formal written rules, passed on by word of mouth at family gatherings.

Setting up

1. Players sit in a circle or around a table so everyone can see and hear each other clearly.
2. Agree before the first round on the category of secret identities to be used: real occupations only, any occupation including fictional ones, famous people, or any person or character the group decides.
3. Agree on the question limit for each round. Twenty questions is the traditional ceiling, though groups may set any number they like.
4. Agree on how many rounds will be played and whether a points system will be used.
5. Choose the first mystery player by any fair method. That player thinks of their secret line and keeps it strictly to themselves.

How to play

1. The mystery player announces that they have their line ready. They do not reveal it.
2. The questioners take turns in order around the group. Each turn consists of one yes-or-no question directed at the mystery player.
3. The mystery player must answer every question honestly with 'yes', 'no', or 'I'm not sure how to answer that' if the question genuinely cannot be resolved as yes or no.
4. If the mystery player answers 'I'm not sure how to answer that', that question does not count toward the question limit and the same questioner may rephrase and ask again.
5. Any questioner may attempt a direct guess at any point during their turn instead of asking a question. A guess counts as that player's question for the round regardless of whether it is correct.
6. If a direct guess is correct, the round ends immediately. The questioners win that round.
7. If the agreed question limit is reached without a correct guess, the mystery player reveals their line and wins that round.
8. The mystery player role passes to the next player clockwise and a new round begins.
9. Play continues for the agreed number of rounds.

Winning and scoring

If playing casually without scoring, rounds are simply won by either the mystery player or the group, and the role rotates. For a competitive session, award one point to the mystery player for every round they survive without being identified, and one point to the questioner who makes the correct guess. If no questioner guesses correctly, the mystery player scores two points. The player with the most points after all rounds have been played wins the game.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns questions that are technically yes-or-no but are so broad as to be unfair in one direction. Questions such as 'Is it a job that most people would recognise?' are usually ruled acceptable, while questions that are effectively guesses disguised as questions, such as 'Is it a nurse?', should be treated as direct guesses and counted accordingly. If the group is uncertain, the mystery player decides whether to treat a question as a guess, and that ruling stands.

A second recurring issue is the mystery player pleading ignorance to avoid giving a damaging answer. The rule is clear: the mystery player must know enough about their chosen line to answer honestly. If they chose something they cannot properly describe, they should have chosen something else, and the group may rule that round void and replay it without penalty. Equally, if a questioner's question contains a factual error, the mystery player answers based on what the questioner clearly meant, not on a technicality.

How to win more often

• Open with broad binary splits: 'Is it a physical, hands-on job?' eliminates roughly half the field in one question and shapes every question that follows.
• Listen to every answer already given before framing your question. Most wasted questions duplicate information the group already has.
• As mystery player, choose a line that is genuine and widely understood but not the first obvious answer in its category. Rarer but real occupations are harder to guess than common ones.
• When questioners narrow the field to a small cluster, coordinate informally before your turn so the group does not ask two questions that cover the same ground.
• Save direct guesses until you are genuinely confident. A wrong guess burns your turn and hands the mystery player a free question.

Variations

Famous People

Instead of an occupation, the mystery player adopts the identity of a real or fictional famous person. All other rules remain identical. This variant works well with older children and adults who share a broad frame of cultural reference, and it tends to produce longer, more difficult rounds.

Silent Panel

The questioners may not speak aloud at any point. They write their questions on slips of paper and pass them to a nominated reader who reads each question to the mystery player. This slows the game considerably and suits smaller groups who want a more contemplative round.

Team Play

Divide players into two teams. One team supplies the mystery player each round while the other team questions collectively, allowed to confer quietly before each question is put. Teams alternate the mystery player role each round. Points are scored per team rather than per individual, making the game more cooperative within each side.

Shrinking Limit

Start round one with twenty questions allowed. Each subsequent round the limit drops by two, so round two has eighteen questions, round three has sixteen, and so on. This creates increasing pressure as the game progresses and rewards mystery players who keep their lines genuinely obscure without being unfair.

What's My Line: frequently asked questions