About this game
An Arab actor every day, in ten guesses. The cells are country, continent, birth year, gender, and whether they are still with us.
The pool covers Egyptian cinema from Naguib El Rihani and Mahmoud El Meliguy through to Ahmed Malek and Amina Khalil, Syrian drama from Duraid Lahham to Taim Hasan and Kinda Alloush, Kuwaiti theatre from Abdulhussain Abdulredha to Tareq Al Ali, and Arab actors with international careers such as Omar Sharif, Hiam Abbass and Said Taghmaoui.
How to play it well
Open with an Egyptian name from a middle generation. Egypt is the largest slice of the pool, and a name like Adel Emam or Yousra fixes country and era at once.
Birth year is the strongest cell here, because the generations of Arab acting are so distinct. The black-and-white generation was born before 1935. The seventies and eighties stars were born in the forties and fifties. The current generation was born in the eighties and later. Anyone who watches Arabic drama can feel these bands.
The status cell narrows things fast. If it comes back as passed away, you are searching a much smaller group, weighted towards the earlier generations.
Gender is a two-value cell, right or wrong, with no amber. Use it early, because it removes half the pool in one move.
Arab actors who work abroad are listed under their country of origin rather than residence, so Hiam Abbass is Palestine and Said Taghmaoui is Morocco.