Pick a number 1–100: the hidden questions game

The idea fits in one line: pick a number from 1 to 100 and find out which question is hiding behind it. This party game, a favourite on social media, is played here on a grid of 100 tiles. A player calls out a number, the tile flips over and a question, a small challenge or a riddle appears in large print. Nobody wins and nobody loses: the point is to laugh, talk and learn something new about each other.

Every new game shuffles the questions and deals them out again, so number 7 does not always bring the same question and even regular players get surprised. Opened tiles are crossed out, and the game stays saved in your browser if you close the page.

1. Gather everyone around one screen: a phone on the table works, a TV or a projector is even better.
2. The first player chooses a number between 1 and 100. Tap that tile, or type the number on the keyboard and press Enter.
3. The tile flips and the question fills the screen. The player answers, takes on the challenge or picks one of two options.
4. Tap “Continue”: the tile is crossed out and the next player takes a turn.
5. Can’t decide? “Random number” hops across the grid for a second, then opens a tile that is still closed.

To keep track of turns, type the players’ names in the options. The game shows “Sara’s turn” and moves on to the next name after every question. “Skip turn” helps when someone steps out for a moment.

Five kinds of questions come built in, 30 of each. Untick the ones that do not suit your group:

• Get to know you: memories, favourite things, dreams and habits, to warm up gently.
• Would you rather: two options, one choice, and usually a lively debate afterwards. More of them on the would you rather wheel.
• Mini challenges: act out an animal, name five fruits in ten seconds, keep a straight face… All of them can be done sitting down, with no props.
• General knowledge: capitals, science, animals, sport. “Show the answer” reveals the solution once the player has had a go.
• Funny questions: light “truth” questions and silly what-ifs that never put anyone on the spot.

Every question is written for mixed family groups, from children to grandparents: nothing awkward, nothing rude.

In “Your questions”, write one question per line. For a quiz question, add the answer after a vertical bar: Capital of Japan? | Tokyo. The answer stays hidden until you tap “Show the answer”.

Then choose “Mixed with ours” to blend your list with the 150 built-in questions, or “Only mine” for a fully personal game: family trivia for a birthday, a revision quiz for the end of a unit, memories from the last holiday. With fewer than 100 questions, some of them come back on several numbers, and the page tells you so.

At home with family or friends

After dinner, cast the page to the TV and switch to full screen: the grid is easy to read from the sofa. Turn on a 30 or 60 second timer to keep the pace up. For a livelier evening, carry on with truth or dare.

In the classroom

The game makes a great first-day routine: each pupil picks a number and answers a question to introduce themselves. The general knowledge questions sneak in some revision, and your own list turns the grid into an end-of-topic quiz. Pair it with our icebreaker questions for a full warm-up session.

On a road trip or a Ramadan evening

In the car, the passenger reads each question aloud and the driver plays without looking at the screen: just untick the challenges. During long Ramadan evenings, the grid keeps all ages busy after iftar, and the Ramadan quiz wheel adds questions about the holy month.

• Team game: split the room with the random team generator and type the team names instead of players. A right quiz answer scores a point.
• Your neighbour’s number: everyone picks the number for the person on their right.
• Fate decides: once ten tiles are left, only the “Random number” button may choose.
• No screen at all: draw a number with the random number generator and make up the question out loud.

Yes. At the start of each game, the questions are shuffled on your device with the browser’s cryptographic generator (crypto.getRandomValues), then spread over the 100 numbers. “Random number” picks the same way among the tiles that are still closed, so each one has exactly the same chance. Nobody, not even the host, can know in advance which question sits behind a number. Our page is the wheel rigged? explains the method.