How to Play Two Truths and a Lie
Set up
Players
Two Truths and a Lie is an icebreaker game for 2 to 10 players.
Required Items
You will need something to keep score.
Rounds & Turns
In Two truths and a lie players take turns going counterclockwise. In each round each player will have a turn.
Decide together how many rounds you want to play. Estimate 2 minutes per turn to estimate game length—2 minutes per turn works well.
Who’s first?
Someone has to go first: let the person who suggested the game – or whoever’s hosting – kick things off.
Goal of the game
Objective
The objective of the game is to detect the lies of others.
Two truths and a lie rules: game development
Telling two truths and a lie
The player whose turn it is tells the others three things about him or herself. Two must be true and one must be a lie.
Examples of Two Truths and a Lie
Example 1 – Sara says…
I have 7 tattoos
I have a twin sister
I have never been to the beach
Example 2 – Bruno says…
I am a mining engineer
I was born in Paris
I collect teddy bears
Example 3 – David says…
I speak 6 languages
I have 6 dogs
I eat 6 times per day
Example 4 – Julia says…
Yesterday I was fired
I know Rihanna
I am a dubbing actress
Below are many more examples and ideas of lies.
Each Player Guesses
The other players have to think and decide which of the three is the lie. Everyone makes their guess out loud.
Reveal & Scoring
When everyone has made his decision, the player whose turn it is reveals his lie. Successful players add one point to their score.
Discussion
Expect some chatter—’Wait, you know Rihanna?’ is part of the fun!
Next turns
The turn is passed to the next player – to the right, counterclockwise – who proceeds in the same way, and so on until everyone has had a turn and a round is completed.
Next rounds
The game goes on, with more truths, more lies, and lots more laughs. And also the clarifications, comments and laughs that this game will undoubtedly provoke.
Game over – who takes the crown??
End of game
The game ends after all the agreed rounds are done.
And the winner is…
The player with the most points wins because he has caught the most lies.
Tips for playing “Two truths and a lie”.
Tip 1: Add fun awards
If you host the meeting, prepare trophies for the winners:
Sherlock Holmes Award
for the best lie-detector.
Pinocchio Award
for the best liar.
Tip 2: About number of rounds
If the objective of the game is for the people in the group to get to know each other a little better then each player should have a minimum of three turns.
Tip 3: Thematic rounds
It can be interesting, and will help a lot those who find it difficult to create their truths and lies, to do thematic rounds.
For example, hobbies in round 1, life achievements in round 2…
Examples of lies for playing Two truths and a lie
To create your lies or to inspire your truths
Examples of your likes and hobbies
It serves you both what you like the most and what you can’t stand: food, music, hobbies, hobbies…
- I love broccoli
- I never eat pizza
- My favorite ice cream is mango
- I am vegan
- I love classical music
- I can’t stand reggaeton
- I collect beer mugs
- I hike every weekend.
- I brush my teeth 5 times per day
- When I get out of bed, I always step on my right foot first.
- I hate social networks. I don’t have an account in any of them
- I love skating
- I am a teetotaler
- My favorite singer is George Michael, I have all of his albums.
- I read my horoscope daily
- I go jogging every day, at least 1 hour
- I love dogs but I can’t have one because I am allergic to them
- I love eating with my hands. I do it whenever I can
- I am afraid of flying. It causes me to panic
- I like to go on vacation alone
- I always sleep naked
- I am a Buddhist
Examples of things you’ve done in your life
Things about your personal or professional background
- I have worked as a choreographer for three years
- I am a chef
- I was traveling in Africa for a year
- I have been around the world
- I have been married three times
- I have never left the country
- I have been world champion in paddle tennis
- I studied in London until I was 16 years old
- I have written three novels
- I am an astronaut
- I can’t swim
- My first job was in a McDonalds
- I have recorded two albums
- I studied medicine but I have never practiced as a doctor.
- I have created an NGO
- I can play five musical instruments
- I have a clothing store
- I have registered a Guinness record
- I have tried but I have not been able to get a driver’s license.
- I sang in the church choir for more than five years.
Examples of your strengths or weaknesses
Especially interesting if the main objective of the game is for people to get to know each other.
- I’m the guy who is always late everywhere I go
- I dance terribly
- I sing like angels
- I’m a cleanliness freak, I can’t help it.
- I am very good at drawing and making caricatures.
- I am an early riser
- I am not tidy, but rather very messy.
- I am very good at DIY, I love it
- I can’t avoid procrastinating
- I am very indecisive. Or not?
- I am very pessimistic. I always look at the bad side of things
- I have an entrepreneur’s mentality
- I have started many diets but have no consistency. None of them lasted more than a week
- I have a shorter memory than Dori. I forget things
- I have no sense of orientation
- I frequently stumble. And I fall. I am very clumsy
Examples of things that happened to you
Anecdotes, exceptional or curious things…
- At a party I was introduced to… Madonna !
- Once I got on the wrong train, fell asleep as soon as I sat down and didn’t realize it. I wanted to go to Boston and ended up in Philadelphia
- Once I found in the street a bag with a lot of money and… I kept it
- I participated as an extra in an episode of Friends
- When I was a little girl I fell from a tree 3 meters high and I didn’t hurt myself.
- Once when I was stopped at a traffic light with my car I looked to my left and on a motorcycle less than a meter away I had a… Brad Pitt !
- I already dropped my cell phone in the toilet five times.
- Once I was struck by lightning
- I have been on TV four times
- I got lost in the mountains and had to be rescued by helicopter
- I’ve tested positive for COVID-19 seven times. Yep, seven!
- I missed the plane to Hawaii. Spent the whole year looking forward to the holidays… and ended up going nowhere!
- I won the lottery
- I was involved in a traffic accident. The car was totaled, but I saved my life
Examples about your environment
About your family, your work or co-workers, the place where you live or have lived…
- My father is a veterinarian
- My mother is an expert in explosives deactivation.
- I have a blond, a brunette and a red-haired brother.
- I have twin coworkers
- I have a very famous neighbor
- We do not have a television at home
- I have 3 cats and 3 dogs
- I have a cat named Lucas
- At home we have one room painted black
- I have lived in 7 different cities
- I live in a loft and the only space with walls is the bathroom
- My mother is Irish and my father is Italian
- I have a four year old daughter
- My mother is Irish and my father is Italian
- I have lived for five years on a 10th floor with no elevator.
- My house is painted green on the outside and yellow on the inside.
Variants of Two truths and a lie
The best liar wins
The winner could also be considered as the player who has slipped in the most lies without being caught, which also has its merit!
Or both. Why can’t there be two winners?
Two lies and one truth
A classic variant is instead of telling two truths and one lie to do the opposite, to tell two lies and one truth.
This variant will only work in groups where the participants have an easy time creating their lies. In that case the game will be even more fun, although it will serve less of a purpose in helping people get to know each other.
So, what happens next?
“Two Truths and a Lie” manages to break the ice, generates complicity among the audience and creates an atmosphere that invites to something more.
If you want to raise the volume and intensity of laughter you can try What do you MEME? or add to the fun the irreverent and “hooligan” touch of Cards Against Humanity.
Or maybe you’re in the mood for something fun with a slightly more brainy twist?, such as the word association game Secret Code or the fascinating occult role-playing game Secret Hitler.
And if you feel like turning your gathering into a proper party, you can give it a musical touch with a Ping Pong Sing a Song competition -for which you don’t need any object or game- or make a Karaoke with one of the 9 LOODENS proposals -most of them free- or move those bodies learning a simple and hilarious Bollywood Dance choreography explained step by step 😉.
