✅ Fact or Fib?

What you need

Equipment: Nothing (optional: printed statement cards). Choose a set of statements, or prepare 15 facts yourself, some true and some made up, each with a short explanation. Seat everyone so they can see the host.

How to play Fact or Fib?

1. Explain the voting: hand up for fact, hand down for fib.
2. The host reads the statement aloud twice, in exactly the same tone, with no hints.
3. Give everyone 10 seconds to think in silence, without discussing.
4. On the count of three, everyone votes at once.
5. The host reveals the answer and reads the explanation. The explanation is the best part.
6. Everyone keeps track of whether they were right.
7. Move on to the next statement.
8. Second round, two truths and a lie style: each player makes up two statements about themselves, one fact and one fib, and the group votes.

Scoring and wrapping up

Scoring: Correct vote: 1 point. Correct vote on a Buga Double statement: 2 points. Fooling most of the group in the player round: 3 points.

To finish: After 10 to 15 statements, add up the scores and announce the group's Fib Detector.

By age

• Ages 6-8: statements about animals and food, voting out loud.
• Ages 9-12: kids write their own statements to fool the group.
• Ages 13+: history and human body facts, plus double-or-nothing betting.

Variations

• Big group: split into two teams that discuss for 20 seconds and then vote together for a team point.
• Buga twist: once a game, the host calls a Buga Double. A wrong vote loses a point, and a right one earns two.
• Two truths and a lie: each player shares three things about themselves and the group spots the fib.

Tips for the adult in charge

• The explanation after the reveal matters more than the points. That is where the "wow" and the follow-up chat happen.
• Keep a straight face and the same voice for every statement, true or false.

🖨️ Printable fact or fib statement cards

Read the statement, let everyone vote, then reveal the answer and the explanation.

• An octopus has three hearts. | TRUE: two pump blood to the gills and one pumps it around the body.
• Goldfish only remember things for three seconds. | FALSE: goldfish can remember things for months and can even be trained.
• Bats are blind. | FALSE: all bats can see, and many also use echoes to find their way in the dark.
• A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. | TRUE: it suits a bird that bright and showy.
• Bananas grow on trees. | FALSE: the banana plant is a giant herb. Its trunk is made of tightly rolled leaves.
• Sharks have been around longer than trees. | TRUE: sharks appeared more than 400 million years ago, before the first trees.
• You can see the Great Wall of China from the Moon. | FALSE: it is far too narrow to see from that distance.
• A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus. | TRUE: Venus spins so slowly that one turn takes longer than one trip around the Sun.
• Babies have more bones than adults. | TRUE: babies have about 300, and some join together as they grow, leaving 206.
• Lightning never strikes the same place twice. | FALSE: tall buildings like the Empire State Building are hit many times a year.
• Penguins live at the North Pole. | FALSE: wild penguins live almost only in the southern half of the world.
• Strawberries wear their seeds on the outside. | TRUE: each strawberry has about 200 tiny seeds on its skin.
• Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared. | FALSE: they lower their heads to turn their eggs, which sit in a hole in the ground.
• Butterflies taste with their feet. | TRUE: they have taste sensors on their feet to find the right plants.
• Chameleons change color mainly to match their background. | FALSE: they mostly change color to show their mood and to warm up or cool down.
• Koalas are bears. | FALSE: koalas are marsupials, which carry their babies in a pouch.
• Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins. | TRUE: a sloth can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes by slowing its heart.
• Lightning is hotter than the surface of the Sun. | TRUE: a lightning bolt can be about five times hotter.
• Most carrots used to be purple. | TRUE: orange carrots became popular only a few hundred years ago.
• Humans only use 10 percent of their brains. | FALSE: brain scans show we use nearly all of it, just not all at once.