The ‘prisoners and hats puzzle’ is a classic logic problem with many variants, some of which are described and summarized here. Like other puzzles where each player has information about the other players but not about themselves, they rely on inductive logic and the hierarchy of beliefs to figure out the other players’ thought processes to deduce the missing information.

Just remember – if you try to stump other people with this kind of puzzle, make sure you have the right answer yourself.

Love the challenge of this riddle? Take a look at these other puzzling lessons from TED-Ed!

Can you solve the bridge riddle? : Alex Gendler
The famously difficult green-eyed logic puzzle: Alex Gendler
How many ways can you arrange a deck of cards? Yannay Khaikin

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