Winning a game of skill and chance usually takes one or both of those things. However, as we've shown you before , industrious nerds always find a way to make a game all about science. And in that tradition, here are some simple tricks anyone can use to come out on top in classic games.

5 Use Binary Search Algorithms to Totally Ruin Guess Who?

Milton Bradley

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

Guess Who? is a game where players use simple questions to guess who their opponent is from a cast of 23 white people and one black lady. Hold on, those are the exact words used to describe a game Katherine Heigl plays when she walks into a Chili's and asks who has a problem with her shitting in the salad bar.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

The Trick:

Clearly, asking your opponent if he's Caucasian does nothing to narrow your search. Do what Katherine Heigl does when she's stacking alphabet blocks with a toddler -- suddenly attack your enemy with letters.

Ask your opponent if her character's name is before or after a nice midway point in the alphabet. For example, M. Or maybe K. Make it your own, like Katherine Heigl cutting a drifter's face off with seamstress shears.

Why Does That Work?

Most players ask low-yield questions like, "Do you have a mustache?" or "Do you have blond hair?" or "Do you have lips like a horse vulva?"

Milton Bradley

"All of the abooo-oooove!!!!"

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

With each alphabet-related question, you remove about half the possibilities. In computers, this is called a binary search algorithm. You're basically guaranteed to be done in five questions every time. It's a little cheap, but it's less racially charged than just asking if your opponent was insane enough to pick Anne.