Guessquatch: the guess-the-character game
Hide a creature, ask yes-or-no questions, and name your opponent’s before they name yours. Play Ranger Maple, the computer, a friend on the same device, or a friend online.
- Formats: 24 → 1
Choose your expedition
Each player hides a creature. Ask yes-or-no questions, stamp the ones it can’t be, and name the other’s creature first.
You’ve been invited to a game. Type your name, then join.
Online games pass through our server: the room’s code, your names, the questions you type, the answers, and each player’s secret creature, which only that player and the server know until the end. It’s all deleted with the room, an hour after everyone leaves (a day at most).
Every game gets a new board of 24 creatures.You’re playing the board from your link.
Sighting log
Your creature Nubbin Keep it secret!
Suspects left
You 24
Ranger Maple 24
Ranger Maple: Hoo’s hiding in these woods? Let’s find out.
Ask a question
Type a word such as horns, hat or blue.
Fur and size
Head and hat
Face
Body and extras
No question has that word. Try “eyes” or “tail”.
Guessing wrong costs you a turn.
Your room
In the room
Connecting…
Ask a question
Type a yes-or-no question, or ask it out loud on your call.
Ranger Maple asks
Does it have horns or antlers?
Check your creature, then answer.
Ranger Maple’s turn
Ranger Maple is thinking…
Risky guess
Pick the creature you think it is.
Choose your creature on the board.
Press a card to choose it.
Your turn is over.
You found it!
Field notes
Questions and answers will be noted here.
Sighting log
Press a card to stamp it “Not it”; press it again to bring it back. Arrow keys move between cards.
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Small, yellow fur, spots. Head: no horns, pointy ears, no hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, fangs, surprised. Body: nothing round its neck, a tail, legs.
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Small, blue fur, no spots or stripes. Head: antlers, no ears showing, top hat. Face: one eye, no glasses, no fangs, cheeky, tongue out. Body: scarf, a tail, tentacles.
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Small, green fur, spots. Head: horns, no ears showing, woolly hat. Face: one eye, no glasses, no fangs, sleepy. Body: nothing round its neck, a tail, legs.
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Big, yellow fur, stripes. Head: horns, round ears, no hat. Face: two eyes, glasses, fangs, cheeky, tongue out. Body: bow tie, a tail, legs.
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Small, pink fur, spots. Head: no horns, round ears, woolly hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, no fangs, happy. Body: nothing round its neck, no tail, tentacles.
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Small, pink fur, spots. Head: horns, round ears, top hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, no fangs, sleepy. Body: nothing round its neck, a tail, legs.
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Big, blue fur, stripes. Head: no horns, pointy ears, no hat. Face: two eyes, glasses, no fangs, happy. Body: nothing round its neck, a tail, legs.
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Small, green fur, stripes. Head: no horns, no ears showing, top hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, no fangs, surprised. Body: bow tie, a tail, legs.
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Big, purple fur, no spots or stripes. Head: horns, no ears showing, no hat. Face: three eyes, no glasses, no fangs, sleepy. Body: scarf, a tail, tentacles.
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Small, purple fur, no spots or stripes. Head: antlers, round ears, woolly hat. Face: two eyes, glasses, no fangs, sleepy. Body: nothing round its neck, a tail, legs.
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Big, yellow fur, stripes. Head: no horns, no ears showing, no hat. Face: one eye, glasses, fangs, happy. Body: scarf, no tail, legs.
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Small, blue fur, no spots or stripes. Head: no horns, pointy ears, no hat. Face: three eyes, glasses, no fangs, sleepy. Body: bow tie, no tail, legs.
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Small, orange fur, no spots or stripes. Head: no horns, pointy ears, no hat. Face: three eyes, no glasses, fangs, surprised. Body: scarf, no tail, legs.
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Big, orange fur, no spots or stripes. Head: antlers, round ears, top hat. Face: three eyes, no glasses, no fangs, surprised. Body: nothing round its neck, no tail, tentacles.
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Big, orange fur, stripes. Head: no horns, round ears, woolly hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, no fangs, sleepy. Body: bow tie, no tail, tentacles.
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Big, orange fur, spots. Head: antlers, no ears showing, top hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, no fangs, happy. Body: bow tie, a tail, tentacles.
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Big, purple fur, no spots or stripes. Head: horns, round ears, no hat. Face: one eye, glasses, no fangs, cheeky, tongue out. Body: bow tie, a tail, tentacles.
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Big, purple fur, spots. Head: no horns, round ears, woolly hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, fangs, happy. Body: nothing round its neck, no tail, legs.
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Big, green fur, spots. Head: antlers, pointy ears, woolly hat. Face: three eyes, no glasses, no fangs, cheeky, tongue out. Body: nothing round its neck, no tail, legs.
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Small, pink fur, stripes. Head: no horns, pointy ears, no hat. Face: two eyes, glasses, fangs, surprised. Body: nothing round its neck, no tail, legs.
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Big, pink fur, no spots or stripes. Head: horns, no ears showing, top hat. Face: one eye, glasses, fangs, cheeky, tongue out. Body: nothing round its neck, a tail, legs.
-
Big, green fur, spots. Head: antlers, pointy ears, no hat. Face: two eyes, no glasses, no fangs, happy. Body: scarf, no tail, legs.
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Small, blue fur, stripes. Head: no horns, pointy ears, no hat. Face: one eye, no glasses, fangs, surprised. Body: scarf, no tail, legs.
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Small, yellow fur, stripes. Head: no horns, no ears showing, no hat. Face: three eyes, no glasses, no fangs, cheeky, tongue out. Body: nothing round its neck, no tail, tentacles.
Keys: Y yes, N no, G guess, Esc cancel.Keys: Y yes, N no, ? not sure, G guess, Esc cancel.
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Tips from the ranger
- Ask about something half the board has: big or small, a tail, a hat, horns or antlers. A yes or a no then rules out about 12 creatures.
- Save the colours for later. Only 4 creatures share each fur colour, so “Is it blue?” usually rules out just 4.
- Broad questions first, narrow ones after: “Is it wearing a hat?” before “Is it wearing a top hat?”.
- Watch the ranger’s suspects. When they drop to two or three, a risky guess may be your best move.
- Answer carefully: look at your creature before you press Yes or No. The game tells you at the end if an answer was wrong.
How to play Guessquatch
- Choose who you play: Ranger Maple (the computer), a friend on this device, or a friend online. Each of you hides one of the same 24 creatures.
- On your turn, ask one yes-or-no question from the list, such as “Does it have horns?”. Creatures that don’t fit get stamped Not it.
- When you think you know, make a guess. Get it right and you win; get it wrong and the turn passes. The first to find the other’s creature wins.
Questions
How do you play a guess-the-character game?
Two players each secretly choose one character from the same set. They take turns asking yes-or-no questions about the other’s character and rule out every one that doesn’t fit. Whoever names the other’s character first wins. In Guessquatch the characters are cryptid creatures, each with its own name.
What’s the best first question?
One that half the board would answer yes to. Every board is made so that being big, having a tail, wearing a hat, having horns or antlers and wearing something round the neck each fit exactly 12 of the 24 creatures, so any of those halves the board. Five good questions can narrow 24 down to one.
How does the computer play? Does it cheat?
Ranger Maple never peeks. Its creature is picked at random, and it answers your questions from that creature’s features. As a Rookie it asks any question that helps; as an Expert tracker it always asks the one that splits its remaining suspects most evenly, and guesses as soon as it’s down to two.
What happens if I answer the ranger wrongly by mistake?
The game carries on, and the ranger copes: when nothing fits your answers, it goes back to the creatures that fit all but one. At the end, the results list any answer that didn’t match your creature, so you can see what happened.
Can two people play on one phone or tablet?
Yes. Choose Two players, one device. Each player picks a secret creature in turn, and a screen asks you to pass the device between turns, so neither sees the other’s board. The game answers each question truthfully for you.
How do we play online?
Choose Online with a friend, type your name, create a room and send the link. When your friend has joined, press Start the game: you both get the same board, and each picks a secret creature on your own device. Type your questions or ask them out loud on your call; answers are Yes, No or Not sure. Your pick goes to our server and back to you, never to your friend’s browser, until the game ends.
Can a friend play the same board without a room?
Yes: copy this board’s link and send it. Anyone who opens it gets the same 24 creatures, so you can play over a video call your own way. The board is carried after the # in the link, which browsers never send to a website.
Can I play with only a keyboard or a screen reader?
Yes. Every card describes its creature in words, the arrow keys move around the board, Y and N answer, G starts a guess, and every question, answer and turn is announced. With reduced motion turned on, the stamps and reveals fade instead of moving.
Is anything sent anywhere?
Against Ranger Maple and on one device, nothing: the creatures are drawn and the computer thinks on your device, and only your settings, like the sound and the level, are kept in this browser. Online games pass through our server: the room’s code, your names, the questions you type, the answers, and each player’s secret creature, which only that player and the server know until the end. It’s all deleted with the room, an hour after everyone leaves (a day at most).