139 Best Hypothetical Questions Ever

Ask a hypothetical question with friends, and you’re guaranteed some interesting answers.  The goal here is to enjoy each other’s company while letting others see more of the way your mind works.  To that end, enjoy our hypothetical questions list. You’ll see them grouped into subcategories according to the general mood or your particular preference.  

What is a hypothetical question? 

A hypothetical question is one that contains an assumption or an imaginary scenario. As the name suggests, it’s based on a hypothesis, however unrealistic it might be.  When used in a less formal setting — as a conversation starter —  the goal is usually to get to know each other better or to pass the time pleasantly. These questions also get people thinking about their own assumptions and priorities. 

139 Hypothetical Questions to Ask 

Look through the following hypothetical questions examples and choose the ones that appeal to you most. Make your own list of favorites to ask friends and family. 

Best Hypothetical Questions 

1. If you could ask your future self from the year 2040 one question, what would it be?
2. If someone wanted to pay you $100K to spend one week in a dark room without eating or sleeping — with one other person — would you accept the offer?
3. Every day, ten things appear in your backyard. If all of them start with the same letter, what would you want that letter to be? 
4. If you were guaranteed a living wage, where would you live and what would you do?
5. If you could time-travel and meet your parents before you were born, what would you say to them?
6. How would it change the world if people were incapable of lying? 
7. If you could erase one thing from existence — along with all memory of it — what would you erase?
8. If you could pick up any musical instrument and play it beautifully, which would you want it to be?
9. What would you do if you could make one illegal thing legal and one legal thing illegal?
10. If you could choose and control your dreams, what would you dream about tonight?
11. What futuristic thing from a sci-fi book or movie do you wish really existed? 
12. If you could create your own reality TV show, what would it be like?
13. If you could have tickets to any show or event — for you and as many guests as you like — what would you see?
14. If you could go back and learn something sooner, what would you do and how would it change things?
15. If you could have free, unlimited service from a chef, a housekeeper, or a chauffeur for a year, what would you choose? 
16. Would you give up your first world perks to live in a third world country if you knew you’d be happy? 
17. If you were offered something that erased your body’s need for sleep, would you take it?
18. How would your life be different if the average life expectancy was 500 years? 
19. If you could send yourself from ten years ago a message lasting only ten seconds, what would it be? 
20. Would you live your life differently if you knew no one would judge you no matter what you did?

Funny Hypothetical Questions

21. In a zombie apocalypse, what would be your weapon of choice? 
22. If you were a superhero, which of your friends would be your sidekick, and what powers (or skillsets) would each of you have?
23. If you were a famous superhero, what would be worse: being stuck with a terrible superhero name or having to dodge lovesick fans at every rescue scene?
24. If you could design a prison planet for crooked politicians, what would it look like?
25. If you could put wings on any species of animal, which animals would fly? 
26. If you were required by law to get a full-body tattoo, what would it look like?
27. If you were a farmer, and you learned the animals were plotting against you, how would you gain their trust? Which animals would you appeal to first? 
28. If you had to be haunted for the rest of your life but you could choose the ghost that would haunt you, who would it be? 
29. Why do our feet smell and our noses run?
30. If you could make any animal the size of a chihuahua, what animal would you pick?
31. If you could be invisible but fart loudly every few minutes, how would you use that?
32. You wake up as a performer for a medieval king’s court. What do you do to entertain him?
33. If you could exchange the sounds your body makes for other sounds, what would you replace burping sounds with?
34. For $100,000, would you go a month without showering or changing your clothes? 
35. How does anyone know whether it’s partly cloudy or partly sunny? 
36. If you had to wear a mask for the rest of your life, what kind would you wear?
37. If you were an animated character, which would you be and why? 
38. If someone offered a pill that would make you a super genius but would remove all the hair from your body, would you take it?
39. If you were in charge of product development for a major fast-food chain, what abomination would you create for it? 

Good Hypothetical Questions

40. If you could start this year all over again, what would you do differently? 
41. Do you think the world would be a better place if all land was connected? 
42. How long do you think you’d survive if shipments of food stopped entirely? 
43. If you could instantly learn any skill in the world, what would you choose? 
44. If you could level up one aspect of yourself (beauty, intelligence, confidence), but you had to decrease another aspect to the same degree, what would you do?
45. A distant relative offers you $1 million if you can use up $100K in 1 week. How would you spend the money if you couldn’t spend or donate it all at once?
46. If you could be CEO of a major corporation for a year, which would you choose and what changes would you make?
47. If you could go back to any age for a month, what age would you choose? 
48. If you were elected president of the United States, what would you do your first day in office?
49. If you owned a bar or a coffee shop, what would you name it, and how would you make it different from the competition?
50. You’re at Comic-Con with cosplay so realistic, it’s freaking people out. What are people calling you?  27 Of The Best Small Talk Topics And Questions 25 Of The Most Interesting Questions To Ask People To Draw Them Out 151 Great Philosophical Questions Everyone Should Ask Themselves
51. If you had to wear the same outfit for the rest of your life, what would you wear?
52. How would the world change if animals could talk? 
53. If you could go back in time and change one decision of yours, what would you do?
54. If Jeff Bezos gave you all his money, what would you do with it?
55. If your superpower enabled you to control one thing — excluding people — what would you choose?
56. If you could be reborn in any country as any gender or race, what would you choose?
57. If you went deaf, what sound do you think you’d miss most? 
58. If you could be the world’s best athlete in a particular sport, which would you choose?
59. If someone offered you an island where you’d have plenty of food for the rest of your life but no human company, would you take it?
60. If you could teleport to any place on Earth, where would you go first?
61. If you knew this was your last year on Earth, what would you do? 

Weird Hypothetical Questions

62. If you found out you were actually a lab-created human-alien hybrid, what special abilities would you want to have?
63. What weird thing would you normalize if you could? 
64. If everyone associated you with a particular scent, what would you want that to be?
65. If you were suddenly homeless and broke but you could make yourself invisible, what would you do first?
66. If you could make one meal flawlessly but the rest of your cooking was garbage, what would your one good meal be?
67. You’ve won a lifetime supply of food you used to love but now don’t. What is it?
68. If you had to be a monster one night a month, what kind of monster would you want to be? 
69. If you were a food, what would you be?
70. If you woke up one morning with wings, what would you do first?
71. What do you wish grew on trees — or houseplants?
72. Your roommate decorates the biggest wall in the living room with a giant U.S. flag. What do you do?
73. If you had to lose two limbs, which two would you rather lose?
74. If you could choose any historical figure to haunt a current world leader, whom would you choose as haunter and haunted? 
75. If you had to choose one band or singer to listen to for the rest of your life, who would it be?
76. How much would someone have to pay you each month to make you give up your mobile phone? 
77. If the only thing to stop a disastrous war between kingdoms was a loveless marriage between the princess of one kingdom and the prince of the other, should the marriage be forced?
78. If you could re-spawn at home after dying (like in a video game), how would that change the way you live your life? 
79. Would the world be better if technology were similar to what it was 200 years ago or if it were like the tech described in your favorite sci-fi movie or novel?
80. If you had to make your own clothes without a sewing machine, would you stitch something together by hand or wear a toga made of curtains or bedsheets? 

Fun Hypothetical Questions

81. What hybrid animal would make the perfect pet, and why?
82. If you had the same dessert every night after dinner, what would you want it to be?
83. What animated world would you want to live in for a day (or longer)? 
84. If you could have dinner with any movie character, who would be your first choice?
85. If you could replace the president with any historical character, whom would you pick?
86. If you could make someone else invisible for a week, whom would you pick? Why?
87. If you had to sleep on sheets made of deli meat or fruit roll-up, what would you do?
88. If you were a famous entertainer with a pseudonym, what would people call you?
89. If you could travel the universe, would you rather fly in a starship or walk through a stargate? 
90. If you could buy any existing .com domain name, what would you choose and why? 
91. If you could teleport, but every time you did it, it cost you a year of your life, would you do it? 
92. How would the world be different if advertising didn’t exist? 
93. You’re reading a book and you discover it’s about your life. You get to the point where you are now. Would you turn the page?
94. According to a fortune-teller who’s never been wrong, something big is about to happen that will change your life. Do you want to know what it is?
95. Would you rather live a short life full of adventures or a long life without any?
96. If you could ask your past self from 10 years ago a question, what would you ask?
97. Would you take a job that paid you $50K a month to sit on a chair and do nothing for 8 hours a day 5 days a week with nothing to entertain you?
98. If you could communicate with animals, what would you for a living?
99. If you had absolute power for a day, what would you do with it?

What Is The Best Hypothetical Question?

The best hypothetical question is one that is purely imaginary. It can be totally impossible, or something that is possible but has never happened.  The point is to make someone think and get the two (or more) of you talking.  You can start with “possible” hypothetical questions or “impossible” hypothetical questions and move on to the other kind, or mix them up for an even more exciting, thought-provoking session.  The best hypothetical question is any question that says, “What would you do if…?” It encourages the person you’re asking to say what they would do with a nonexistent or unexpected scenario.

Random Hypothetical Questions

100. If you could take only three things to a desert island, what would they be?
101. If you could get rid of one food in the world, what would it be?
102. If you could get rid of an animal in the world, what would it be?
103. What would you change if you could go back in time and why?
104. If you could visit your past self, what age would you visit and would you say to them?
105. What would you do with your life if you didn’t have to worry about money ever again?
106. What would you choose if you could instantly have a talent that someone you know has?
107. What would it be like if you owned a restaurant or a food truck business?
108. If you were in a dystopian world, would you want to escape it or try to change it for the better?
109. Who would you choose if you could bring back someone who passed for just one day?
110. If you could live twice as long, what would you do?
111. Would you eat something disgusting, like bugs, if you were paid a million dollars?
112. If you could choose where you were born and where you grew up, what would you change, if anything?
113. What would you choose if you could stop one bad thing from happening in your past?
114. If you woke up tomorrow as the opposite sex, what would your life be like?
115. If you had the chance to be an instant celebrity, what kind would you be?
116. What would it be like if you could make what you think is a perfect movie or perfect music?
117. Tomorrow, you wake up in the ocean and can breathe water. What sea creature would you be?
118. Who or where would you visit if you could visit anyone or anywhere back in time?
119. Who would you choose if the world was ending tomorrow and you had just one person you could choose to be with?
120. You have to choose one of your senses to go without. Which one would you rather lose?

Hypothetical Questions for Kids

121. If you had one superpower, what would you want it to be and why?
122. If a superhero or cartoon character could visit you right now, which one would you want it to be and why?
123. If you had to talk to aliens about planet earth, what would you tell them?
124. If you could choose anyone you wanted to add to the family, who would you want to be a member and why?
125. If you could have any animal in the world as a pet, which one would you choose and why?
126. If you had to choose between being a superhero or living forever, what would you choose?
127. If you could choose characters from a tv show or movie to exist in real life, who would they be?
128. If there was one animal you could choose to talk to, which one would you want?
129. If you woke up invisible tomorrow morning, what would you do?
130. If you could make someone fart whenever you wanted, who would it be?
131. If you had a special weapon for the monster in your room, what would it be?
132. If you could be a superhero’s sidekick, which one would you choose?
133. If you had one food you could eat anytime, forever, which one would you want?
134. What would you say to yourself if you could visit yourself in the future?
135. If you were king or queen anywhere, where would you choose to rule over and why?
136. If you could live on any other planet, where would you want to move to?
137. Tomorrow, you wake up, and you’re an animal. Which animal are you?
138. If you could invite anyone you wanted in the world to a party, who would be the guests?
139. You suddenly have the ability to make one animal smaller and another larger. Which two would you choose?            

How will you use these hypothetical questions?

Now that you’ve looked through these 139 hypothetical questions, which ones are you most likely to ask someone when you get the chance?  Make your own list, using this one as a reference. Or keep this list handy for the next time you want to send a hypothetical “pop quiz” to someone via text message or social media post.  Be prepared to answer them yourself if asked. That’s part of the fun.