Hot Seat
How well do you know them?
One player takes the hot seat each round and answers a quick either-or question honestly. Everyone else tries to predict what they picked. It is a fast way to find out how well your friends, family or coworkers really know each other, and the seat rotates so everybody gets a turn at being read.
Objective
One player sits in the hot seat and picks their real answer. Everyone else guesses what they picked.
How to play
- Each round one player is in the hot seat. The seat rotates every round.
- A This-or-That pair is shown. The hot-seat player secretly picks the option they really prefer.
- Everyone else guesses which option the hot-seat player picked. Then the answer is revealed.
Scoring
Each guesser who reads the hot-seat player correctly scores 1 point. The hot-seat player scores 1 point if at least half of the guessers got it right.
Example round
- The pair is 'Beach vacation' vs 'Mountain vacation', and it is Cleo's turn in the hot seat. Ana, Ben, and Dan are the guessers.
- Cleo secretly picks Mountain vacation. At the same time, Ana guesses Beach, Ben guesses Mountain, and Dan guesses Mountain.
- The reveal shows Cleo's real answer first, then who read her correctly: Ben and Dan were right, Ana was not.
- Ben and Dan each score a point for a correct guess.
- Two of the three guessers read Cleo correctly, which is at least half the room, so Cleo scores too. Next round the hot seat moves to someone else.
Strategy tips
- As a guesser, think about the person rather than the question. Remember what they have said in earlier rounds, what they ordered for dinner, and which side they usually take.
- Do not assume the answer is the one you would choose yourself. The whole point is that the hot-seat player can differ from you.
- In the hot seat, answer honestly. You score by being predictable to the people who know you, so overthinking a bluff only works against you.
- Watch how the group's guesses change over the evening. People who keep getting read correctly may want to surprise the room now and then, but that costs them points.
Best with
Needs at least two players, and it gets better the more the group knows each other. It suits friends, family dinners, new teams getting to know one another, and video calls, where a short round keeps everybody involved.
Variations
- Pick a theme for the night, such as childhood memories, food, travel, or office life, and write your own pairs for it.
- Add a house rule that the player who is read wrong most often has to explain their answer to the group.
- Let the hot-seat player give a one-line reason after the reveal, to turn each result into a short story.
FAQ
Who sits in the hot seat?
The seat rotates every round, so each player takes a turn as the person being guessed.
How does the hot-seat player score?
They score when at least half of the guessers predict their answer correctly. Guessers score individually for every correct guess.
Can I write my own either-or pair?
Yes. The host can type both options when setting up the game or change the pair between rounds, otherwise a random pair is chosen.