Distraction sought

[liv]

I am doing a job that's both fiddly and intimidating, and I'm forcing myself to concentrate in very small chunks. So I would be most grateful if you'd join me in playing a silly game. I believe ceb invented this, and titled it pessimized twenty questions.

I'm thinking of something. In order to find out what it is, instead of asking yes/no questions as in traditional twenty questions, you are only allowed to ask me what my something is like. I will answer either: yes, it's a bit like what you guessed, or: no, it's more like French toast. I have to be honest, but I don't have to tell you in what way my thing is more like your thing or more like French toast. If you get a yes, your guess replaces French toast as the comparison object.

Like this:
Me: I'm thinking of something
Player: Is it like Guess1?
Me: No, it's more like French toast
Player: Is it like Guess2?
Me: Yes, it's a bit like Guess2.
Player: Is it like Guess3?
Me: No, it's more like Guess2.
Player: Is it like Guess4?
Me: Yes, it's more like Guess4 than Guess2.

Guesses should in general be specific things rather than categories of things. Eg "Is it like a tiger?" or "Is it like Cate Blanchett?" are legitimate questions, but "Is it like an animal?" or "Is it like a celebrity?" belong in trad twenty questions, not in the pessimized analogy version. And if you ask "Is it like [the thing I originally thought of]" then you win and you can think of something and lead the next round.

(I'm wondering if we can take advantage of threaded comments to make triangulating on the answer non-linear, but that's probably too complicated.)

I'll start the first round in the first comment, to make it easier to read if the game works and we want to try further rounds.

Comments

Round 1

[liv]

I am thinking of something. Ask me what it's like.

Re: Round 1

[highlyeccentric]

Is it like unto a chocolate muffin?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

Now, that's a hard one, since chocolate muffins share many properties with French toast! I would say no, it's more like French toast than like a chocolate muffin.

Re: Round 1

[cosmolinguist]

Is it like goldfish?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

Not much like, no. I think it's more like French toast than like a goldfish.

Re: Round 1

[highlyeccentric]

Is it like English muffins?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

Still more like French toast than like an English muffin. (But not very much like either.)

Re: Round 1

[randomling]

Is it like Loch Ness?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

It is more like Loch Ness than like French toast, but it is more like Switzerland than like Loch Ness. (Switzerland is the nearest guess we've got so far, but it's buried in a deeply indented thread...)

Re: Round 1

[randomling]

Is it like the USA?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

It is more like the USA than like Loch Ness, but more like Switzerland than like the USA.

Re: Round 1

[silveradept]

So far, to point of this guess, it is most like Switzerland than all other things, if I read the threads right.

So, is it more like neutrality than like Switzerland?

Re: Round 1

[legionseagle]

Is it more like Chad than it's like Switzerland?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

I confess I know little about Chad, but I think what I'm thinking of is still more like Switzerland.

Re: Round 1

[alextiefling]

Is it more like Graubünden than Switzerland?

Re: Round 1

[liv]

Yup, it's still most like Switzerland! And it's more like Switzerland than like neutrality.

[seekingferret]

Also, I'd think it really neat if a person you know invented this game, because it was introduced to me by a friend at New Year's this year and we played it for a while. My friend called it The French Toast Game. And now I am wondering how the game traveled.

[liv]

Huh, that's really interesting! I wouldn't be surprised if several people came up with the game independently, but the French toast as a starting point sounds like it has a common origin! Maybe it's known in fandom? And maybe I'm remembering wrong that ceb invented it, maybe she just described it to me...

[ceb]

I don't *think* I invented it, though it might have come out of a mutual confusion whilst drunk, or something. It does sound like the kind of thing that might spontaneously invent itself every so often.

[liv]

OK, mutual confusion while drunk sounds very likely :-) Sorry for misattributing.

[seekingferret]

I poked my friend- she said she got it from a friend she knew at the University of Chicago, and doesn't know where that friend got it.

Round 2

[randomling]

I am thinking of a thing! Ask me what the thing is like.

Re: Round 2

[liv]

Is it like philosophy?

Re: Round 2

[randomling]

Hmm, straight off with a tough one! Yes, more like philsophy than French toast, I think.

Re: Round 2

[liv]

Is it like a quark?