Truth or Drink

Truth or Drink needs nothing: no deck, no cups, no table. One person asks a question, the other answers it or drinks, and then they swap. It is the drinking game for 2 most people have played without knowing it had a name, and it scales to a full room without a single rule changing. The questions below start easy and get braver, so you can pick a level for the company.

What you need

• A drink for each player
• Questions, either made up on the spot or read from the list further down
• Two or more people willing to be honest, or thirsty

Setup

1. Agree on what a drink is. A sip, a count of three, or a shot. Pick the smallest one that still makes skipping a question cost something.
2. Agree on the pass rule. Anyone can refuse a question outright without drinking, once per game or as often as they like. Say which.
3. Pick who asks first. Flip a coin, or let the host go first so nobody can complain about the opening question.

How to play Truth or Drink

1. The asker puts a question to one other player. Make it specific. “What is the last lie you told?” gets a story; “any secrets?” gets a shrug.
2. The player asked either answers honestly or takes a drink. Drinking means the question is dropped, not delayed. Nobody gets to ask it again later.
3. Follow-up questions are allowed, once. One follow-up, then the turn ends. Cross-examinations are for a different game.
4. The player who just answered asks next. In a two-player game that means you simply alternate. At a table, the answerer picks anyone they like.
5. Play until the questions run out or the honesty does. A round of the list below takes about half an hour with two people.

Questions to get you started

Start at the top and work down, or skip to the group that matches the mood. Everything here is safe for a mixed table of friends; the brave group asks for honesty, not confessions.

Easy

1. What is the most embarrassing song on your phone right now?
2. What is the last lie you told, and who did you tell it to?
3. Who would you call first if you got arrested?
4. What food do you pretend to like?
5. What is the longest you have gone without a shower?
6. Describe your worst haircut.
7. What is the dumbest thing you have bought after midnight?
8. What is your most-used emoji, and who gets it most?
9. What was the last thing you searched for on your phone?
10. Have you ever faked being sick to get out of plans with someone here?
11. What childish thing do you still do when nobody is watching?
12. How much sleep did you actually get last night?
13. What is the worst gift you have ever given?
14. Which app has the highest screen time on your phone, and what is the number?
15. What is your go-to excuse for leaving a party early?
16. Have you ever cried at an advert? Which one?
17. What is the pettiest reason you have unfollowed someone?

Medium

1. What is the most embarrassing thing in your search history this week?
2. Who was your first crush, and do they know?
3. What is the worst date you have ever been on?
4. Have you ever ghosted someone in this room?
5. What is one thing your parents still do not know about you?
6. What is the biggest stretch on your CV?
7. Whose profile did you last look at without them knowing?
8. What have you never told your best friend?
9. Which ex do you still think about?
10. What is the pettiest thing you have done to get back at someone?
11. Have you ever read a partner’s messages without asking?
12. What is your most irrational fear?
13. What is the most money you have wasted on one stupid thing?
14. Who at this table could you beat in a fight?
15. What is the worst thing you have said about someone sitting here?
16. When did you last cry, and what was it about?
17. Which friend would you never lend money to?

Brave

1. What is the biggest mistake you have made in a relationship?
2. Have you ever loved someone who did not love you back?
3. What are you most ashamed of from your teenage years?
4. Who in this room do you trust least?
5. What is the worst thing you have done at work?
6. Have you ever cheated, in a game, on a test, or on a person?
7. What do you pretend to be confident about?
8. Which family member do you get along with least, and why?
9. What is the one thing you would change about your best friend?
10. Have you ever broken up with someone by text?
11. What is the meanest thing anyone has said to you that turned out to be true?
12. What is the biggest risk you have taken and regretted?
13. Who was the last person you cried over?
14. Have you lied at any point in this game tonight?
15. If you could take back one thing you have said to someone here, what would it be?
16. What do you think people say about you when you are not in the room?

Variations and house rules

• The card game. Cut, the channel behind the YouTube series, sells a Truth or Drink deck. The dealer draws a card with two questions, picks two players to ask each other, and judges the better answer. Each player holds strategy cards that bounce a question to someone else without drinking. First to five won cards wins. There is also a Hasbro edition with four decks sorted by intensity, and its rules are the simple version on this page.
• Truth, dare, or drink. Add a dare as the middle option. Refuse the truth, take the dare; refuse the dare, drink. The drink gets smaller because it is now the third choice.
• Everyone answers. At a big table, the asker puts the question to the whole room and goes round. Anyone who drinks instead of answering is a story for later.
• Double or nothing. If you drink to skip a question, the asker has to answer it themselves or drink twice. Stops people asking questions they would not answer.
• Same question back (our house rule). In a two-player game, whoever answers a question gets to ask the same one straight back before the turn changes. It keeps things even, which matters when there are only two of you.
• Couples edition. Swap the list for questions about the relationship: first impressions, things you have never said, the habit you secretly like. Our drinking games for couples page has more of these.
• Soft version. No alcohol at all. The drink becomes a spoon of something horrible, a sip of pickle juice, or a forfeit picked by the asker.

Tips

• Keep the unit small. A skip should cost a sip, not a shot. Truth or Drink with shots looks good on video and is over in fifteen minutes, and with two players every drink lands on one of you.
• Ask, do not interrogate. One question, one follow-up, then move on. The game dies when one person turns into a lawyer.
• Set a stop signal. A word that means “drop it” with no drink and no argument. You will not need it most nights, and on the night you do, you will be glad it was agreed in advance.
• Save the brave list for people you already know. With new friends, the easy list is the better game, and the medium one is where most tables stay.