<h1>There are lots of variations of this game, and various names</h1>
<p>One version I found didn't use cards, but rather used magazines (so it could be more easily seen by a large group of people), and called itself &quot;<a href="http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/activity/nine_magazines-1862.asp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Nine Magazines</a>&quot;. I imagine that there is a card game version of this called &quot;Nine Cards&quot;.</p>
<p>What you refer to as &quot;the gift&quot; is that Player 1 has a magazine in mind, and he follows a rule where he somehow signals that magazine. Say that the &quot;correct&quot; one is the one in the lower right.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The trick is in the location where you tap each magazine cover. For our example above, you would tap each magazine in the lower-right corner.</p>
<p>It can be very difficult to figure out this trick. Make the location on the cover more obvious each time. Or, try it with 4 magazines. It's better to stop after a bit more than half the group has figured it out.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, when you point to one and says &quot;Is this the one?&quot;, you are touching the card in the bottom right corner. Someone who has figured it out would know that the correct answer is &quot;No&quot; for all cards except for the bottom right card. A player who has figured out the rule has &quot;the gift&quot; and might take over as the player signaling until more players figure it out themselves.</p>
<p>A more tricky rule is that only the first card (or second card, etc.) that you point to signals the card you have in mind, while the rest of the point locations are arbitrary.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-02T00:32:14.387Z
2018-07-03T18:24:59.923Z
2020-06-17T09:01:24.697Z
Thunderforge
<p>I play this game with my friends but I forgot the name of the game. </p>

<p>First, Player 1 lays out 9 cards on a table face up in the shape of a perfect square. Then player 2 looks away. The other people watching point at a card. Player 1 notes the card picked. Player 2 now looks back at the cards. Player 1 now starts pointing at cards randomly saying “Is it this one?” Until player 2 chooses correctly or incorrectly the card. Once you figure out the rule, you have “the gift”. </p>

<p>Does anyone know the official name of this game?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-29T00:53:20.710Z
You might want to elaborate more, there isn't much to go on.
esoterik
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-29T04:01:40.063Z
It's tricky, since folk/party "games" like this tend to either not be named, or get a whole bunch of different names that don't mean much.
ConMan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-29T09:05:24.047Z
You say they are pointing randomly but also trying to work out 'the rule' or have 'the gift'?  If there are just nine cards its not going to take long for someone to randomly 'win'.  Are there other rules, number of rounds, scoring?  Does 'the rule' stay over from one dealing of cards to the next?    What this mostly remind me of is not a game but a magic trick I've seen children do. One of the people who knows what card was selected secretly signals to the 'psychic' but touching a part of there body to correspond with with the card selected.
StartPlayer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-29T21:32:11.270Z
It's not really a game, it's just a magic trick.  I'm with @ConMan - I doubt this has a "name".
BJ Myers
<identify-this-game>
Identify a card game where one player points to cards and the others try to figure out the one they are signalling
Alex
# Identify a card game where one player points to cards and the others try to figure out the one they are signalling

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-29)

I play this game with my friends but I forgot the name of the game.

First, Player 1 lays out 9 cards on a table face up in the shape of a perfect square. Then player 2 looks away. The other people watching point at a card. Player 1 notes the card picked. Player 2 now looks back at the cards. Player 1 now starts pointing at cards randomly saying “Is it this one?” Until player 2 chooses correctly or incorrectly the card. Once you figure out the rule, you have “the gift”.

Does anyone know the official name of this game?

**Tags:** identify-this-game

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You might want to elaborate more, there isn't much to go on.  
> **username_2**: It's tricky, since folk/party "games" like this tend to either not be named, or get a whole bunch of different names that don't mean much.  
> **username_3**: You say they are pointing randomly but also trying to work out 'the rule' or have 'the gift'?  If there are just nine cards its not going to take long for someone to randomly 'win'.  Are there other rules, number of rounds, scoring?  Does 'the rule' stay over from one dealing of cards to the next?    What this mostly remind me of is not a game but a magic trick I've seen children do. One of the people who knows what card was selected secretly signals to the 'psychic' but touching a part of there body to correspond with with the card selected.  
> **username_4**: It's not really a game, it's just a magic trick.  I'm with @username_2 - I doubt this has a "name".  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-07-02. Score: 1

# There are lots of variations of this game, and various names

One version I found didn't use cards, but rather used magazines (so it could be more easily seen by a large group of people), and called itself "[Nine Magazines](http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/activity/nine_magazines-1862.asp)". I imagine that there is a card game version of this called "Nine Cards".

What you refer to as "the gift" is that Player 1 has a magazine in mind, and he follows a rule where he somehow signals that magazine. Say that the "correct" one is the one in the lower right.

> The trick is in the location where you tap each magazine cover. For our example above, you would tap each magazine in the lower-right corner.
>
> It can be very difficult to figure out this trick. Make the location on the cover more obvious each time. Or, try it with 4 magazines. It's better to stop after a bit more than half the group has figured it out.

In other words, when you point to one and says "Is this the one?", you are touching the card in the bottom right corner. Someone who has figured it out would know that the correct answer is "No" for all cards except for the bottom right card. A player who has figured out the rule has "the gift" and might take over as the player signaling until more players figure it out themselves.

A more tricky rule is that only the first card (or second card, etc.) that you point to signals the card you have in mind, while the rest of the point locations are arbitrary.


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