Last night, our friends talked about a game they had played. It sounded like an intriguing game, especially if played among other people who one does not know well. They called it “two truths and a lie.” The idea is to make three statements about oneself, two of them true statements and the third one pure fiction. The aim is for other players to guess which statements are true and which one is a lie.
This morning, I searched for information on “two truths and a lie.” From what I gather, almost all other humans on the face of the earth are familiar with the game. It often is used as an ice breaker at parties an at small-group professional workshops and the like. I don’t go to enough parties, I guess.
One of the resources I found suggested this format:
- Each person writes three self-descriptive statements; two true, one false.
- Each person reads those statements.
- The other players express their opinions about which statement is false and why they believe it to be so.
- When each participant has spoken, the subject person amplifies the true statements and reveals which one is false.
- For each correct guess, the guesser gets a point; for each incorrect guess, the person telling the “lie” gets a point.
- After all participants have played through, the scores are tallied and the person(s) with the highest score is declared the winner.
I can envision making the game more elaborate and/or more off-beat by awarding prizes or requiring the person making an incorrect guess to drink either an espresso shot or an ounce of high-grade single malt whiskey.
Am I really the only remaining person on earth who was not familiar with this game? I really do like the idea; I need to insinuate myself into party invitation lists among people I do not know.
