Puzzle game: Can you escape the prison by solving the riddle? Only smart people can do it

Time for a puzzle game. If you can solve it this time, you must be really smart because only such people can solve this puzzle.

You are a prisoner in a high-security jail with two fellow inmates. The warden, known for his love of logic puzzle games, offers you a chance to escape. He takes you and the other two prisoners into a dark room and places a hat on each of your heads.

Each hat is either red or blue, and you do not know the colour of your own hat. You can see the hats on the other two prisoners but not your own. The warden explains the rules.

There is at least one red hat among the three of you. You cannot communicate with each other after the hats are placed. If you can correctly guess the colour of your own hat, you will be set free. Otherwise, you remain imprisoned. If all three of you stay silent, you will all be executed.

The warden gives you a few minutes to think. After a while, one prisoner confidently declares the colour of his hat and is set free. How did the prisoner figure out the colour of his hat? What reasoning did they use?

Puzzle Game Solution

The puzzle game is solved through logical deduction based on the rule that at least one red hat is present. Each prisoner sees the other two hats but not their own. If both visible hats are blue, the prisoner immediately knows their own hat must be red.

If they see one red and one blue hat, they wait to see if the red hat wearer realises it, and if not, they conclude their own hat must be red.

If they see two red hats and no one declares early, silence confirms they also have a red hat. The prisoner who declares first must have seen two blue hats, confirming their own hat is red.