Akinator: The Genie in Telegram

Think of anyone: your literature teacher, a footballer, Iron Man, the guy from the next flat. The genie in the Akinator bot will try to guess who it is, one question after another. Sometimes it nails it by question six, sometimes it gives up and you get to gloat. 🧞

The game runs right in the Telegram chat. There is nothing to install or register, and everything starts with /start.

Three steps to the first question

The rules come from the well-known game of the same name that appeared in 2007. You pick a character and keep it in mind, and the bot asks questions to narrow the field.

1. Press /start. The bot begins a new game right away.
2. Think of a character and answer the genie's questions one by one.
3. Wait for the guess. If the genie is wrong, tell your friends and pick someone harder.

The /language command switches the game language, which helps if you play with foreigners or practise a language.

Who you can pick

A real person or a fictional character from a cartoon, book, series or video game all work. The more famous the character, the faster the genie finds them.

• Celebrities: actors, athletes, musicians, politicians.
• Movie and cartoon heroes: classics and new releases.
• Book and game characters: detectives, wizards, console heroes.
• Little-known people: the genie misses more often and may name someone similar.

How the genie guesses

Each question removes a share of the possible characters. "Is he fictional?" splits everyone in half, "Does he wear glasses?" removes plenty more. The game collects answers from players and learns from them.

So answer honestly and by what people generally know about the character, not by your private associations. If you are unsure, a neutral answer is better than confusing the genie.

How to beat the genie

That is part of the fun. Skip the obvious hero and choose a minor figure: a sidekick, a one-episode villain, a lesser-known musician.

Answer accurately but pick characters with unusual traits. The less popular the character, the weaker the statistics from other players. You can also race: who can pick someone the genie fails to find within twenty questions. 🎯

A game for a group

The bot fits an evening in a chat with friends. One person thinks of a character, the others watch the screen and argue about the best answer. In this format the winner is usually whoever knows the character better.

Play at school breaks, on a train, in a queue. A round takes a few minutes and needs no preparation. Another idea: pick a character for a child and watch them learn to describe features of things. 🙂