Fake Fact

Objective

A true fact appears with its answer missing. Write a fake answer that sounds real, then try to spot the true one among everyone's fakes.

How to play

1. A fact is shown with a blank (e.g. 'The first ___ was sold in 1923'). Every player secretly writes a believable fake answer.
2. The true answer is mixed in with all the fakes and everyone votes for the one they think is real. You can't vote for your own fake.
3. The truth is revealed, along with who wrote each fake and who it fooled.

Scoring

Pick the true answer: 2 points. Every other player your fake fools: 1 point for you.

Example round

1. The prompt reads: 'The scientific study of birds is called ___.' You type a believable fake: 'avianology'.
2. Everyone's fakes and the true answer appear in a shuffled list. Your own fake is hidden from your list, so you cannot vote for it.
3. You pick 'ornithology' and score 2 points for finding the truth. Two friends voted for 'avianology', so you earn 1 point for each.

Strategy tips

• Keep fakes short and in the same style as a real answer: long, jokey answers are easy to rule out.
• Copy the shape of the truth. If the blank is a year, write a year; if it is a word ending in -ology, end yours the same way.
• If you know the real answer, do not write something close to it: the game rejects a fake that matches the truth, and a near-miss tips off the room.
• When two fakes look alike, the real answer is often the plainer one.

Best with

Best with 3 to 12 players. Everyone plays from their own phone, so it works in a living room or over a video call, and no one needs to be good at trivia: being a convincing liar is worth more than knowing the answer.

Variations

• Let the host type their own fact and answer for an in-joke round about your group.
• Shorten the timer for a frantic bluffing game, or lengthen it for more careful lying.
• Play several rounds and let the scoreboard crown the best bluffer.

FAQ