How to play

The master answers each question with one of these. Only "Not a question" leaves your count alone.

Yes

True, measured against the truth.

No

False, measured against the truth.

Partly

Only partly true, or it depends.

Irrelevant

Has nothing to do with the truth, or the story leaves it undecided.

Not a question

Can't be answered with yes or no. It doesn't count as a question.

The rankings go by fewest questions. The diner (the server) does all the counting.

You have up to 30 questions per bowl. Once you reach 30, you can no longer ask or ask for a whisper.

After that, one last chance to tell the truth remains. Miss it and the bowl ends as "failed", and the truth is revealed. You can't ask for a whisper that would take you past 30.

If you're stuck, ask the master for a whisper. What kind you get depends on how far along you are.

• A distant whisper

  When you have few clues yet. It quietly points in a direction worth looking. It never states a fact.

• A question-log whisper

  When you're partway there. It points at one of your own earlier questions and nudges you to dig there. No new information.

• That's enough

  When every clue the truth needs is open. The master only tells you the clues are all there. This costs no questions and doesn't use up a whisper.

Every bowl has a few "facts" that make up the truth. When a question touches one, it is written on the order slip. The slip shows how far along you are, and it is also what your truth has to cover. If your truth comes close, the facts you did cover open on the slip.

• Solved: your truth was judged correct.
• Gave up: you chose to give up and hear the truth.
• Failed: your final truth after reaching 30 questions missed.

However it ends, the whole truth and every fact are revealed, and the master adds a closing word.

• Only people who solve tonight's bowl on the same night (before midnight JST) are ranked. A bowl solved after midnight doesn't count.
• Fewest questions first. On a tie, the shorter time; then whoever solved it first.
• Time runs from your order to your solve, including any time you spent away from the screen.
• You get one try at tonight's bowl per night. If you close the screen, you can pick up where you left off.
• The rankings are shared between the Japanese and English versions. Names appear as public names.
• Which master you choose has no effect on the rankings.

• Only people who finished a bowl (solved, gave up or failed) can review it. One review per bowl, which you can edit later.
• If your comment touches the truth, mark it "contains spoilers". It is folded away for anyone who hasn't finished that bowl.
• Reviews of tonight's bowl stay hidden from everyone until the next midnight.

Uncovering the circumstances behind a short story by asking only yes-or-no questions is known as a lateral-thinking puzzle. In English it is often called a "situation puzzle".

In Japan, one well-known puzzle about a man who tasted sea turtle soup at a seaside restaurant became so famous that the whole game took its name: "Umigame no Soup" (sea turtle soup). All it needs is someone to set the puzzle and someone to ask, so it has been played everywhere from gatherings of friends to online message boards.

At this diner, the AI master sets the puzzles. Apart from the practice bowl, "The first bowl", every bowl on the menu was written for this diner.

Do I need to log in?

Not to read. To order (play), log in with your AI TRPG account.

The master's answers seem to contradict each other.

The AI master gets things wrong sometimes. Please tell us about an answer that seems off, as described in "Report a strange answer" below.

What happens if I stop partway?

Open the same bowl and you continue where you left off, even from another device. Tonight's bowl, though, won't be ranked if you finish it after midnight.

Can I ask two things at once?

Only one thing per question. Two at once tends to get "Partly" or "Not a question", so ask them separately.

How detailed does my truth need to be?

Covering the key facts of the story is enough. Exact wording doesn't matter. Write what happened in your own words.

Can I play in Japanese?

Yes. Switch the site language to Japanese and the story and the master's answers will be in Japanese. Tonight's bowl and the rankings are shared between both languages.

If the master gave an answer that contradicts the truth, or said something it shouldn't have, please let us know.

In the question log on the game screen, press "Report" on the answer that bothered you. The question and the answer go to the diner's admins, who use reports to fix that bowl's clarifications.

Reporting doesn't change your question count or your place in the rankings.