Two Truths and a Lie

How to play (the standard rules)

Every player writes three short statements about themselves. Two of them are true. One is a lie — ideally a plausible one. When it's your turn to be the subject, you read your three statements aloud (or the site shows them to everyone at once). The rest of the room votes on which statement they think is the lie.

After everyone has voted, the subject reveals the answer. Players who guessed correctly earn a point. In the JossUp version, the subject also earns points for every player they fool — so the game rewards being interesting on both sides of the guess.

A full round with six players usually takes 8–12 minutes. With twelve players, budget closer to 20 minutes.

What makes a good lie

The most common mistake is making the lie too obvious. If your two truths are "I've visited 30 countries" and "I speak three languages", and your lie is "I have a pet parrot named Kevin", the pet parrot is going to lose every single time.

A good lie is the same texture as your truths. It sounds like something you would say. It's specific enough to be believable but not so specific that a coworker could fact-check it in three seconds. Numbers help — "I ran a half marathon in 2019" is more convincing than "I run sometimes".

The best players make their truths sound faintly ridiculous. If everything you say is a little unexpected, nothing stands out.

40 examples you can steal

Stuck? Here are ready-made statements you can adapt. Pick two truths and invent your own lie in the same style, or use them as inspiration.

• I once ate the same lunch every day for two years.
• I've met a famous author in an airport bathroom.
• I can name every US state capital in under 90 seconds.
• I lived on a boat for six months.
• I have a tattoo I got at 3am on a dare.
• I once had a cameo in a music video.
• I broke my arm falling off a trampoline as an adult.
• I speak a language nobody in my family speaks.
• I've been to five continents.
• I have a scar from a chicken.
• I used to have a mullet.
• I once won a hot dog eating contest at a county fair.
• I can juggle three balls but not four.
• I have a sourdough starter older than my youngest sibling.
• I sang backup for a wedding band in college.
• I have never watched Titanic.
• I once got locked in a museum after closing.
• I know how to milk a cow.
• I have the same birthday as a former US president.
• I broke a bone at Disneyland.
• I once accidentally sat next to a celebrity on a train.
• I have three passports.
• I taught myself to solve a Rubik's cube during lockdown.
• I still have my baby teeth in a jar somewhere.
• I've run a marathon on three separate continents.
• I have a fear of butterflies.
• I met my best friend in an elevator.
• I once saw a shark while snorkelling and did not scream.
• I have played in a jazz band.
• I own more than 100 houseplants.
• I can recite the entire opening monologue of a Shakespeare play.
• I got my driver's license after age 25.
• I've had food poisoning on four different continents.
• I once got a job offer from a company I applied to as a joke.
• I have never eaten a Big Mac.
• I own a wetsuit but have never surfed.
• I broke my nose during a work event.
• I have relatives on four continents.
• I have hiked to the top of an active volcano.
• I still remember the phone number of my childhood best friend.

Variations worth trying

Two Truths and a Wish. Replace the lie with something you wish were true. It's a gentler version that still tells the room something real about you — great for onboarding sessions where people don't know each other yet.

Themed rounds. Everyone's statements have to be about travel. Or childhood. Or their most embarrassing job. Themes give people a starting point and stop the game feeling repetitive across multiple sessions.

Two Lies and a Truth. The opposite mode — two of the three statements are made up, and the room has to pick the real one. Harder for the writer, funnier for everyone else.

Team mode. Split into two teams. One team's subject shares three statements; the other team caucuses privately for 30 seconds before voting. Adds a social dynamic and stops one loud person dominating every vote.

Tips for running it as a host

Go first. Whoever is running the session should be the first subject. It signals what a good round looks like, gives shy players time to think of their own statements, and burns off the awkward first-round energy on the person who is already comfortable talking.

Set a soft time limit for writing statements — around 90 seconds. If you let people ponder for five minutes, the energy dies. The best statements are usually the first ones that come to mind anyway.

For remote teams, use JossUp in a browser tab next to your video call. Everyone sees the current subject's three statements, votes privately, and the reveal happens live. It works cleanly on mobile too, so people don't need to be at a laptop.

For groups larger than 12, split into breakout rooms of 5–8 and run parallel games. Bringing everyone back together to share the best lie of each room is a nice capstone.

Where to play online

JossUp hosts a free multiplayer version. Open the site, create a room, share the six-letter code, and the game starts as soon as three players have joined. No account, no install, no email address. Works on any browser.

Frequently asked questions