Gather & Play
Prompt card packs

Two Truths and a Lie Ideas

60 original example sets. Each shows two "truth-shaped" statements and one sample lie, with a note on adapting it. They are patterns to rewrite with your own real details — never statements to present as your life.

Cut along the dashed lines. These are patterns to rewrite with your own true details. Never present an example as a fact about your life — the game works because two statements really are true.

Everyday habits (15 prompts)

Everyday habits
  1. I set three alarms every morning.
  2. I have never owned an umbrella.
  3. I iron my socks.

Sample lie: #3 · Swap in your real morning routine; keep the lie just as mundane.

Everyday habits
  1. I alphabetise my bookshelf.
  2. I talk to my houseplants.
  3. I have kept every cinema ticket since I was twelve.

Sample lie: #3 · Use two real habits and one collection you never started.

Everyday habits
  1. I always sit in the same seat on the bus.
  2. I have never finished a crossword.
  3. I write my shopping lists in rhyme.

Sample lie: #3 · The lie works because it is odd but harmless — invent your own.

Everyday habits
  1. I drink my tea cold on purpose.
  2. I check the weather four times a day.
  3. I have named my car.

Sample lie: #3 · Replace with real quirks about drinks, weather or belongings.

Everyday habits
  1. I can only sleep with socks on.
  2. I have used the same pen for six years.
  3. I fold my laundry the moment it is dry.

Sample lie: #3 · Choose habits your friends would half believe.

Everyday habits
  1. I walk the same route every evening.
  2. I always read the last page of a book first.
  3. I have never hit the snooze button.

Sample lie: #3 · A virtuous-sounding lie is hard to spot.

Everyday habits
  1. I count the stairs whenever I climb them.
  2. I keep a jar of buttons with no purpose.
  3. I listen to the same album every Monday.

Sample lie: #3 · Use your own small rituals.

Everyday habits
  1. I eat lunch at exactly the same time every day.
  2. I have a favourite spoon.
  3. I answer every phone call on the first ring.

Sample lie: #3 · Make all three equally ordinary.

Everyday habits
  1. I have kept a diary for ten years.
  2. I cannot whistle.
  3. I make my bed before I do anything else.

Sample lie: #3 · Mix a long-running habit with something you cannot do.

Everyday habits
  1. I always carry a spare pair of shoelaces.
  2. I rehearse phone calls before I make them.
  3. I have never been late for a train.

Sample lie: #3 · "Never" statements invite good questions.

Everyday habits
  1. I save the best bite of a meal for last.
  2. I organise my wardrobe by colour.
  3. I do a jigsaw puzzle every week.

Sample lie: #3 · Swap in your real ways of organising things.

Everyday habits
  1. I keep my phone on silent all day.
  2. I water my plants on a strict schedule.
  3. I can say the alphabet backwards without stopping.

Sample lie: #3 · End with a small skill you do not have.

Everyday habits
  1. I always choose the window seat.
  2. I write letters to friends by hand.
  3. I polish my shoes every Sunday.

Sample lie: #3 · Old-fashioned habits make believable lies.

Everyday habits
  1. I name the spiders in my home.
  2. I do the washing-up before I go to bed, without fail.
  3. I have not eaten a crisp in five years.

Sample lie: #3 · Use one silly truth so the lie looks sensible.

Everyday habits
  1. I take a photograph of every meal I cook.
  2. I never step on cracks in the pavement.
  3. I read the instructions before assembling anything.

Sample lie: #3 · Pick habits people could ask a follow-up about.

Food and home (15 prompts)

Food and home
  1. I have never eaten a hard-boiled egg.
  2. I put pepper on strawberries.
  3. I baked my own wedding cake.

Sample lie: #3 · Keep the food truths strange and the lie impressive.

Food and home
  1. I once ate the same dinner for two weeks.
  2. I cannot stand the smell of melon.
  3. I grow my own chillies on a windowsill.

Sample lie: #3 · Use real likes, dislikes and one garden you do not have.

Food and home
  1. I have burnt toast three times in a single morning.
  2. I own eleven wooden spoons.
  3. I make my own bread every week.

Sample lie: #3 · A wholesome lie is rarely challenged.

Food and home
  1. I have a recipe I refuse to share.
  2. I eat pizza crust-first.
  3. I have never tasted peanut butter.

Sample lie: #3 · "Never tasted" is easy to adapt to any common food.

Food and home
  1. I learned to cook from a library book.
  2. I keep ketchup in the cupboard, not the fridge.
  3. I once won a pie-eating contest.

Sample lie: #3 · Swap the contest for any unlikely small victory.

Food and home
  1. My fridge contains four kinds of mustard.
  2. I have eaten breakfast for dinner all week.
  3. I can chop an onion without crying.

Sample lie: #3 · Choose kitchen facts that sound like boasts.

Food and home
  1. I drink a glass of milk every night.
  2. I have never used a microwave.
  3. I put salt in my coffee.

Sample lie: #3 · One slightly unbelievable truth hides the lie.

Food and home
  1. I painted my front door without asking anyone.
  2. I have lived in the same street all my life.
  3. I built my own kitchen table.

Sample lie: #3 · Use real facts about your home and one project you never did.

Food and home
  1. I have moved house nine times.
  2. I sleep with the window open all winter.
  3. I have a room I have never decorated.

Sample lie: #3 · Numbers make statements feel checkable.

Food and home
  1. I once lived above a bakery.
  2. I have never owned a television.
  3. My home has a door that leads nowhere.

Sample lie: #3 · Homes are full of odd truths — list yours.

Food and home
  1. I always eat dessert first when I am at home.
  2. I keep a herb garden in old teapots.
  3. I have a cellar full of homemade jam.

Sample lie: #3 · Make the lie cosy and specific.

Food and home
  1. I have a favourite mug that nobody else may use.
  2. I hate the texture of mushrooms.
  3. I once cooked dinner for forty people.

Sample lie: #3 · The scale of the lie should stay plausible.

Food and home
  1. I have eaten at the same café every Saturday for years.
  2. I cannot cook rice without burning it.
  3. I roast my own coffee beans.

Sample lie: #3 · Combine a routine, a weakness and a false expertise.

Food and home
  1. I collect cookbooks but never follow recipes.
  2. I once dropped a whole trifle at a party.
  3. I have never eaten a meal in bed.

Sample lie: #3 · Embarrassing truths make the game friendlier.

Food and home
  1. I hang my washing in a particular order.
  2. I rearrange my furniture every season.
  3. I assembled a wardrobe with no leftover screws.

Sample lie: #3 · End on a triumph nobody quite believes.

Places and travel (15 prompts)

Places and travel
  1. I once drove four hours to buy a second-hand accordion.
  2. I have never been on a ferry.
  3. I have slept in a lighthouse.

Sample lie: #3 · Swap in a real long trip made for a silly reason.

Places and travel
  1. I got lost in my own town last year.
  2. I have been to the same beach every summer since childhood.
  3. I have crossed a border on foot.

Sample lie: #3 · Keep places general — no need to name them.

Places and travel
  1. I have never flown in a plane.
  2. I once missed a train by ten seconds.
  3. I have swum in three different seas.

Sample lie: #3 · Counts of things are easy to adapt.

Places and travel
  1. I learned to ride a bicycle as an adult.
  2. I have camped in the snow.
  3. I have travelled for a whole day by bus.

Sample lie: #3 · Choose journeys that prompt a story.

Places and travel
  1. I have been to a wedding in a country where I knew nobody.
  2. I get seasick in a rowing boat.
  3. I have walked across a whole city in one day.

Sample lie: #3 · One social truth, one weakness, one feat.

Places and travel
  1. I once took the wrong train and stayed for lunch.
  2. I have never seen the sea in winter.
  3. I can read a paper map properly.

Sample lie: #3 · A dull-sounding skill makes a clever lie.

Places and travel
  1. I have climbed a hill before sunrise.
  2. I always pack two days before I travel.
  3. I have never lost a suitcase.

Sample lie: #3 · Pair an adventure with your packing habits.

Places and travel
  1. I have lived in three different cities.
  2. I have a favourite bench in a park.
  3. I once slept through my station and woke at the end of the line.

Sample lie: #3 · Everyday travel mishaps work best.

Places and travel
  1. I have ridden a horse on a beach.
  2. I am afraid of escalators.
  3. I have been inside a cave with no torch.

Sample lie: #3 · Avoid real fears you would rather not discuss.

Places and travel
  1. I once went on holiday and it rained every day.
  2. I have never built a sandcastle.
  3. I have picnicked on a mountain top.

Sample lie: #3 · Weather and picnics suit any age group.

Places and travel
  1. I know the way to my grandparents' old house by heart.
  2. I have never taken a taxi alone.
  3. I have been to a place that is not on most maps.

Sample lie: #3 · A slightly mysterious lie invites questions.

Places and travel
  1. I have watched a sunrise and a sunset over water on the same day.
  2. I once left my shoes on a train.
  3. I can sleep anywhere, even standing.

Sample lie: #3 · Finish with a talent that would be useful if true.

Places and travel
  1. I visited the same museum five times in one year.
  2. I have never ridden a tram.
  3. I have sailed a small boat by myself.

Sample lie: #3 · Mix city truths with an outdoor lie.

Places and travel
  1. I once walked home in a snowstorm.
  2. I always choose the aisle seat.
  3. I have stayed in a hotel made of ice.

Sample lie: #3 · The lie can be exotic if the truths are plain.

Places and travel
  1. I have a town I return to every year.
  2. I once cycled further than I meant to and needed rescuing.
  3. I have never been camping.

Sample lie: #3 · Flip which statement is the lie to suit your life.

Skills and school days (15 prompts)

Skills and school days
  1. I can juggle three oranges.
  2. I failed my first driving test.
  3. My first job was painting lines on a tennis court.

Sample lie: #3 · First jobs are perfect lie material.

Skills and school days
  1. I played the recorder in a school concert.
  2. I can touch my nose with my tongue.
  3. I won a prize for handwriting.

Sample lie: #3 · School prizes are hard to check.

Skills and school days
  1. I learned to swim when I was nineteen.
  2. I can fold a paper crane from memory.
  3. I was the captain of a chess team.

Sample lie: #3 · One late-learned skill, one party trick, one false title.

Skills and school days
  1. I once forgot my lines in a school play.
  2. I can name every tool in a toolbox.
  3. I had perfect attendance for a whole school year.

Sample lie: #3 · Use a real stage memory if you have one.

Skills and school days
  1. I know how to knit but not how to stop.
  2. I can do a cartwheel.
  3. I taught myself to juggle from a library book.

Sample lie: #3 · Half-finished skills are funny and true.

Skills and school days
  1. I was in a choir for five years.
  2. I cannot ride a skateboard.
  3. I once built a working radio.

Sample lie: #3 · Keep the technical lie modest.

Skills and school days
  1. I can type without looking at the keys.
  2. I never learned to tell left from right quickly.
  3. I won a sack race at school.

Sample lie: #3 · Sports-day lies are safe and cheerful.

Skills and school days
  1. I can recite a poem I learned when I was eight.
  2. I have terrible sense of rhythm.
  3. I can play one song on the piano with both hands.

Sample lie: #3 · Swap in your own party piece.

Skills and school days
  1. I was once locked in a library after closing time.
  2. I can whistle two notes at once.
  3. I hold a certificate in first aid.

Sample lie: #3 · A practical qualification is a believable lie.

Skills and school days
  1. I repeated a science experiment until it finally worked.
  2. I am very good at untangling knots.
  3. I was always picked first for team games.

Sample lie: #3 · Pair a persistence story with a tiny talent.

Skills and school days
  1. I can draw a convincing horse.
  2. I cannot snap my fingers.
  3. I read an entire encyclopaedia volume for fun.

Sample lie: #3 · Choose things people can ask you to prove — or not.

Skills and school days
  1. I started learning a language last year.
  2. I once got full marks on a test by accident.
  3. I can identify ten birds by their song.

Sample lie: #3 · Nature knowledge makes a tidy lie.

Skills and school days
  1. I was taught to sew by my grandfather.
  2. I can stand on one leg for five minutes.
  3. I have never forgotten a birthday.

Sample lie: #3 · Mix a family skill with a bold "never".

Skills and school days
  1. I kept a pet snail in my school desk.
  2. I can parallel park in one attempt.
  3. I was the fastest reader in my class.

Sample lie: #3 · School-day oddities beat grand claims.

Skills and school days
  1. I wrote a newspaper for my street as a child.
  2. I am hopeless at remembering jokes.
  3. I can solve a puzzle cube in under two minutes.

Sample lie: #3 · End with a skill someone might ask to see.

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