History Main / ShellGame

Notably, the key element of most shell games is that just ''playing'' the game means you lose the game; if you're playing it, you're not paying attention to what the guy running it is actually doing - the KansasCityShuffle. [[KnowWhenToFoldEm The only winning move is not to play]].

Two or more identical things are shown, but only one of them is significant. Either the viewers or some of the characters know which one it is until they get mixed up. They do not come into view already mixed. The most common variation involves covering an item such as a peanut with a shell and shuffling it with other shells, and playing cards may be substituted. (The card variation is also known as "find the lady" or three-card monte.) The next most common variation has a hero and a look-alike get in a fist-fight while in sight of another hero, and [[AmbiguousCloneEnding results vary]].

* Johnny Five learns it from a street performer in ''Film/ShortCircuit 2''.

* Used for a VisualGag during the dumpling fight in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''. Master Shifu hides a dumpling under an overturned bowl, then twirls the three bowls at blinding speed using his chopsticks. Po upturns the right bowl to free the dumpling. Later during his climatic fight with Tai Lung, Po does the same trick while standing on a pair of bamboo poles, with the Dragon Scroll hidden amongst some woks. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Tai Lung just flips all of them over at once, to Po's dismay.]]

* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Team Miligan's strategy in their combat league finals match boils down to Miligan repeatedly swapping her familiar Milihand between herself and Lynette and sometimes even hiding it underground, so that the opposing team can never be sure where it is and thereby guard against [[DeadlyGaze the paralytic gaze from its basilisk eye]]. [[spoiler:Which, much like her HidingBehindYourBangs hairstyle, is all a distraction from the fact she's had her ''primary'' basilisk eye removed from her left eye socket and reimplanted in her back!]]

** ''VideoGame/{{The Legend Of Zelda|1}}'' has some old men offer to play MONEY MAKING GAME. Pick 1 of 3 rupees, and either win or lose rupees based on pure luck.

** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', this is the premise of a mini-game you can play to potentially double (or forfeit) your EXP or coins from a battle. But don't bother trying to follow the Yoshi with your eyes: the animation is always the same, and the results are always nevertheless randomized.

*** Also, on Shiver Mountain and in Crystal Palace, there will be a few points where you have to use Kooper or Bombette, and once you do, there will be one or more Duplighosts mimicking the partner, and you have to decide which is the real one and which are the fakes. This involves watching what they say. (The Duplighosts with the "worst disguises ever" don't count.)

* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'': A beggar running a shell game can occasionally be found in the levels, usually in the Arcade but he can pop up anywhere. If you pay him a coin, you can play the game, with a 1/3 chance of receiving a prize for it. Characters with a high Luck attribute can increase this chance to 1/2 (despite there still being three shells present).

** Once again during the last arc. Kraagor's Tomb is a simple concept: any adventurer is presented with a number of doors in the cliffside, most of which lead to dungeons filled with monsters, and only one leading to the actual tomb. The party considers briefly that it was another "shell game" of the sort pulled with Xykon at Azure City, but this is considered unlikely due to the fact that Team Evil, who was trying door after door, wouldn't be fooled by their own trick. [[spoiler: Turns out it ''is'' a shell game--the doors all have teleportation magic just a few feet past them. Haley notices the traps and is able to bypass one of them. Further, all the ''physical'' tunnels converge into an underground cavern. However, Haley notes that any group with a decent rogue would probably be able to spot the teleportation traps, so it can't be the ''entire'' challenge of the dungeon. It turns out that she is right. The cavern blocked off by the teleport traps isn't where the gate is hidden either. The path to the gate can only be reached after going through every single one of the dungeons that the teleport traps send you to.]]
---> '''Roy''': Of course! Kraagor wasn't a rogue, he was a barbarian! It's not a shell game, it's a [[spoiler:'''''gauntlet''''']].

** Homer becomes a licensed Krusty impersonator and gets grabbed by TheMafiya when they mistake him for the real Krusty... who gets brought in at the same time. The mobsters are going to shoot Krusty and let Homer go, but Krusty grabs each of their heads and plays a human Shell Game, which succeeds in confusing the gangsters and winning them their freedom... until [[TooDumbToLive Homer says "Good one, Krusty!"]]
** In another episode, Mr. Burns had stolen the Simpsons' 25 puppies and plans to kill them to make a suit, but spares one of them after it amuses him by standing on its hind legs. To twarth his plan, Bart puts "Little Monty" in with the others so he can't shoot them, but Burns can still identify him when he does his trick. Bart then moves some socks on a clothesline to get the other dogs to stand up as well, making it impossible for Burns to figure out which one is which.
** The episode where Marge became a cop started with her catching Snake cheating at the "three cards" version.

** ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': During the first phase of his battle, Phantom Ganon will hide in one of the paintings surrounding his arena. Link must try to spot which painting Phantom Ganon would emerge from or else he would get hit by a powerful lightning attack and Phantom Ganon would just retreat into another painting and repeat the process.