What Were You Thinking?

Guess what the crowd will write, avoid being the odd one out, and sync your brain with the rest of the room in a hilarious, fast-paced party game of hive-mind thinking.

What Were You Thinking? (published by Exploding Kittens) flips traditional trivia and creative writing games on their head by rewarding conformity over cleverness. Moving away from esoteric knowledge or obscure answers, this game is entirely about predicting popular consensus and reading the room. The primary gameplay objective centers on hive-mind agreement: players hear a broad, everyday category prompt, secretly write down a list of answers, and race to match as many answers as possible with the other players around the table.

The primary mechanical hurdle stems from avoiding the "Lone Wolf" trap and dodging the dreaded "Thinking Cap." Each round, a prompt card is read aloud—such as "Name 5 things you find in a glove compartment" or "Name 5 foods you eat with your hands." Players secretly scribble their top choices before revealing them simultaneously. You score points for every item on your list that was also written down by at least one other player. However, the player who ends up with the fewest matches (or the most obscure, unmatched answers) is crowned the odd one out and must wear the oversized foam Thinking Cap (or take penalty tokens). Designed for 4 or more players aged 8 and up, a full match plays out across an energetic 15 to 25 minutes. To win, you must put aside obscure facts, suppress your hipster impulses, and think exactly like the rest of the group.

Game Specs at a Glance:
Age Range: 8+ Years
Publisher: Exploding Kittens
Play Time: 15-25 Minutes
Player Count: 4+ Players
Complexity: Light (Party Game, Word Association, Simultaneous Action, Social Deduction, Consensus)

What's in the Box?

• Deck of Category and Prompt Cards
• Dry-Erase Player Slates
• Dry-Erase Markers with Erasers
• 1 Novelty Foam "Thinking Cap"
• 1 Sand Timer
• 1 Rule Sheet