🕵️ Two Truths and a Lie

10+, 6–9
15, 30 min
🌙 Works in the dark

To play Two Truths and a Lie, one player says three things about themselves on a topic: two are true and one is made up. Everyone else guesses which is the made-up one, then the player tells. In the car, keep the topics light, like foods, animals or things you've done on holiday. This page deals a topic so nobody has to think of one, and so nobody shares anything they'd rather keep.

Peabody gives a topic, like "your favourite foods".
One player says three things: two true, one made up.
Everyone guesses which one is made up. Then the next player goes.

🎮 Getting the game ready…

How to play Two Truths and a Lie, the long way

Tap for a topic. The player whose turn it is takes a moment, then says three things about it, in any order.

Everyone guesses which one is made up. Go round the car so each person guesses, then the player tells. A good made-up thing sounds true; a good true thing sounds made up.

Stick to the topic on the card. Nobody has to tell anything private, and nobody says things about another person in the car.

Play a practice round first, with a grown-up going first so everyone hears how it works. A good round sounds like this: "I have eaten a snail. I have been on a boat. I have met a giraffe." The car guesses, then the grown-up tells which one was made up, and why they chose it.

By age

🧸 3–5: Too hard for threes and fours. Play "true or silly" instead: a grown-up says one thing, and they shout true or silly.

🎒 6–9: Six to nine can play with easy topics and a grown-up's help making up the third.

🎧 10+: Big kids and teens are best at it. It's one of the few car games teenagers will actually play.

When it goes wrong

A child's made-up thing is obvious: that's fine. Clap anyway, and help them with the next one.
Someone gets upset that everyone guessed: point out that the true things were so good they sounded made up.
It drifts into private things: go back to the card's topic.

Questions families ask

Is it okay to teach kids to lie?

It's a game of made-up things everyone knows are made up, like a story. The topics keep it to foods, animals and fun things.

Is this good for teenagers?

Yes. It's quiet, it works in the dark, and big kids are good at it.

All 18 cards in the deck

Show them all (for paper players, or to read out yourself)

Two truths and a lie about: your favourite foods.
Two truths and a lie about: animals you've seen.
Two truths and a lie about: places you've been.
Two truths and a lie about: things you can do.
Two truths and a lie about: things you collect or would like to collect.
Two truths and a lie about: your favourite things to play.
Two truths and a lie about: things you did last summer.
Two truths and a lie about: foods you don't like.
Two truths and a lie about: books or stories you've read.
Two truths and a lie about: things you'd like to learn.
Two truths and a lie about: things in your bedroom.
Two truths and a lie about: your best day ever.
Two truths and a lie about: things you've built or made.
Two truths and a lie about: sounds you can make.
Two truths and a lie about: what you wanted to be when you were little.
Two truths and a lie about: your favourite things about winter.
Two truths and a lie about: things you've done on a trip.
Two truths and a lie about: weird things you've eaten.

Try next

v0.2.0 · Checked 31 October 2026 · Everything you tap stays on this phone. No sign-in, no location, nothing sent. For grown-ups