Guess the Feeling: a Head-Card Emotion Guessing Game with Yes/No Questions

About the technique

In Guess the Feeling, each player has a secret feeling that everyone else can see, and works out their own by asking yes or no questions. It is a practice-based play activity with no single originator. It exercises two skills at once: emotional vocabulary, and perspective-taking, imagining what might be going on in someone else’s mind. Identifying and naming feelings is a core part of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, where children build a feelings vocabulary before approaching harder material (Cohen et al., 2017).

The perspective-taking half connects to mentalizing, the capacity to understand behavior in terms of thoughts and feelings. Eia Asen and Peter Fonagy describe mentalization-based work with families that uses playful exercises and games to make family members curious about each other’s minds, especially in families where misreading each other fuels conflict (Asen & Fonagy, 2012). Asking questions such as “Would I feel it before a test?” or “Does it make my body feel tight?” helps players think about where feelings show up and how they differ. This particular game has not been tested on its own.

It suits children, teens, families and groups, and works as a warm-up, a rapport builder or a way to practice vocabulary learned earlier. Offer a picture list of feelings for younger children. In families with high conflict, keep the facilitator in charge of turns so the game stays playful and does not become a vehicle for criticism. If a chosen feeling clearly carries personal weight, pause the game and follow up.