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)
- I set three alarms every morning.
- I have never owned an umbrella.
- I iron my socks.
Sample lie: #3 · Swap in your real morning routine; keep the lie just as mundane.
- I alphabetise my bookshelf.
- I talk to my houseplants.
- I have kept every cinema ticket since I was twelve.
Sample lie: #3 · Use two real habits and one collection you never started.
- I always sit in the same seat on the bus.
- I have never finished a crossword.
- I write my shopping lists in rhyme.
Sample lie: #3 · The lie works because it is odd but harmless — invent your own.
- I drink my tea cold on purpose.
- I check the weather four times a day.
- I have named my car.
Sample lie: #3 · Replace with real quirks about drinks, weather or belongings.
- I can only sleep with socks on.
- I have used the same pen for six years.
- I fold my laundry the moment it is dry.
Sample lie: #3 · Choose habits your friends would half believe.
- I walk the same route every evening.
- I always read the last page of a book first.
- I have never hit the snooze button.
Sample lie: #3 · A virtuous-sounding lie is hard to spot.
- I count the stairs whenever I climb them.
- I keep a jar of buttons with no purpose.
- I listen to the same album every Monday.
Sample lie: #3 · Use your own small rituals.
- I eat lunch at exactly the same time every day.
- I have a favourite spoon.
- I answer every phone call on the first ring.
Sample lie: #3 · Make all three equally ordinary.
- I have kept a diary for ten years.
- I cannot whistle.
- I make my bed before I do anything else.
Sample lie: #3 · Mix a long-running habit with something you cannot do.
- I always carry a spare pair of shoelaces.
- I rehearse phone calls before I make them.
- I have never been late for a train.
Sample lie: #3 · "Never" statements invite good questions.
- I save the best bite of a meal for last.
- I organise my wardrobe by colour.
- I do a jigsaw puzzle every week.
Sample lie: #3 · Swap in your real ways of organising things.
- I keep my phone on silent all day.
- I water my plants on a strict schedule.
- I can say the alphabet backwards without stopping.
Sample lie: #3 · End with a small skill you do not have.
- I always choose the window seat.
- I write letters to friends by hand.
- I polish my shoes every Sunday.
Sample lie: #3 · Old-fashioned habits make believable lies.
- I name the spiders in my home.
- I do the washing-up before I go to bed, without fail.
- I have not eaten a crisp in five years.
Sample lie: #3 · Use one silly truth so the lie looks sensible.
- I take a photograph of every meal I cook.
- I never step on cracks in the pavement.
- I read the instructions before assembling anything.
Sample lie: #3 · Pick habits people could ask a follow-up about.
Food and home (15 prompts)
- I have never eaten a hard-boiled egg.
- I put pepper on strawberries.
- I baked my own wedding cake.
Sample lie: #3 · Keep the food truths strange and the lie impressive.
- I once ate the same dinner for two weeks.
- I cannot stand the smell of melon.
- I grow my own chillies on a windowsill.
Sample lie: #3 · Use real likes, dislikes and one garden you do not have.
- I have burnt toast three times in a single morning.
- I own eleven wooden spoons.
- I make my own bread every week.
Sample lie: #3 · A wholesome lie is rarely challenged.
- I have a recipe I refuse to share.
- I eat pizza crust-first.
- I have never tasted peanut butter.
Sample lie: #3 · "Never tasted" is easy to adapt to any common food.
- I learned to cook from a library book.
- I keep ketchup in the cupboard, not the fridge.
- I once won a pie-eating contest.
Sample lie: #3 · Swap the contest for any unlikely small victory.
- My fridge contains four kinds of mustard.
- I have eaten breakfast for dinner all week.
- I can chop an onion without crying.
Sample lie: #3 · Choose kitchen facts that sound like boasts.
- I drink a glass of milk every night.
- I have never used a microwave.
- I put salt in my coffee.
Sample lie: #3 · One slightly unbelievable truth hides the lie.
- I painted my front door without asking anyone.
- I have lived in the same street all my life.
- I built my own kitchen table.
Sample lie: #3 · Use real facts about your home and one project you never did.
- I have moved house nine times.
- I sleep with the window open all winter.
- I have a room I have never decorated.
Sample lie: #3 · Numbers make statements feel checkable.
- I once lived above a bakery.
- I have never owned a television.
- My home has a door that leads nowhere.
Sample lie: #3 · Homes are full of odd truths — list yours.
- I always eat dessert first when I am at home.
- I keep a herb garden in old teapots.
- I have a cellar full of homemade jam.
Sample lie: #3 · Make the lie cosy and specific.
- I have a favourite mug that nobody else may use.
- I hate the texture of mushrooms.
- I once cooked dinner for forty people.
Sample lie: #3 · The scale of the lie should stay plausible.
- I have eaten at the same café every Saturday for years.
- I cannot cook rice without burning it.
- I roast my own coffee beans.
Sample lie: #3 · Combine a routine, a weakness and a false expertise.
- I collect cookbooks but never follow recipes.
- I once dropped a whole trifle at a party.
- I have never eaten a meal in bed.
Sample lie: #3 · Embarrassing truths make the game friendlier.
- I hang my washing in a particular order.
- I rearrange my furniture every season.
- I assembled a wardrobe with no leftover screws.
Sample lie: #3 · End on a triumph nobody quite believes.
Places and travel (15 prompts)
- I once drove four hours to buy a second-hand accordion.
- I have never been on a ferry.
- I have slept in a lighthouse.
Sample lie: #3 · Swap in a real long trip made for a silly reason.
- I got lost in my own town last year.
- I have been to the same beach every summer since childhood.
- I have crossed a border on foot.
Sample lie: #3 · Keep places general — no need to name them.
- I have never flown in a plane.
- I once missed a train by ten seconds.
- I have swum in three different seas.
Sample lie: #3 · Counts of things are easy to adapt.
- I learned to ride a bicycle as an adult.
- I have camped in the snow.
- I have travelled for a whole day by bus.
Sample lie: #3 · Choose journeys that prompt a story.
- I have been to a wedding in a country where I knew nobody.
- I get seasick in a rowing boat.
- I have walked across a whole city in one day.
Sample lie: #3 · One social truth, one weakness, one feat.
- I once took the wrong train and stayed for lunch.
- I have never seen the sea in winter.
- I can read a paper map properly.
Sample lie: #3 · A dull-sounding skill makes a clever lie.
- I have climbed a hill before sunrise.
- I always pack two days before I travel.
- I have never lost a suitcase.
Sample lie: #3 · Pair an adventure with your packing habits.
- I have lived in three different cities.
- I have a favourite bench in a park.
- I once slept through my station and woke at the end of the line.
Sample lie: #3 · Everyday travel mishaps work best.
- I have ridden a horse on a beach.
- I am afraid of escalators.
- I have been inside a cave with no torch.
Sample lie: #3 · Avoid real fears you would rather not discuss.
- I once went on holiday and it rained every day.
- I have never built a sandcastle.
- I have picnicked on a mountain top.
Sample lie: #3 · Weather and picnics suit any age group.
- I know the way to my grandparents' old house by heart.
- I have never taken a taxi alone.
- I have been to a place that is not on most maps.
Sample lie: #3 · A slightly mysterious lie invites questions.
- I have watched a sunrise and a sunset over water on the same day.
- I once left my shoes on a train.
- I can sleep anywhere, even standing.
Sample lie: #3 · Finish with a talent that would be useful if true.
- I visited the same museum five times in one year.
- I have never ridden a tram.
- I have sailed a small boat by myself.
Sample lie: #3 · Mix city truths with an outdoor lie.
- I once walked home in a snowstorm.
- I always choose the aisle seat.
- I have stayed in a hotel made of ice.
Sample lie: #3 · The lie can be exotic if the truths are plain.
- I have a town I return to every year.
- I once cycled further than I meant to and needed rescuing.
- I have never been camping.
Sample lie: #3 · Flip which statement is the lie to suit your life.
Skills and school days (15 prompts)
- I can juggle three oranges.
- I failed my first driving test.
- My first job was painting lines on a tennis court.
Sample lie: #3 · First jobs are perfect lie material.
- I played the recorder in a school concert.
- I can touch my nose with my tongue.
- I won a prize for handwriting.
Sample lie: #3 · School prizes are hard to check.
- I learned to swim when I was nineteen.
- I can fold a paper crane from memory.
- I was the captain of a chess team.
Sample lie: #3 · One late-learned skill, one party trick, one false title.
- I once forgot my lines in a school play.
- I can name every tool in a toolbox.
- I had perfect attendance for a whole school year.
Sample lie: #3 · Use a real stage memory if you have one.
- I know how to knit but not how to stop.
- I can do a cartwheel.
- I taught myself to juggle from a library book.
Sample lie: #3 · Half-finished skills are funny and true.
- I was in a choir for five years.
- I cannot ride a skateboard.
- I once built a working radio.
Sample lie: #3 · Keep the technical lie modest.
- I can type without looking at the keys.
- I never learned to tell left from right quickly.
- I won a sack race at school.
Sample lie: #3 · Sports-day lies are safe and cheerful.
- I can recite a poem I learned when I was eight.
- I have terrible sense of rhythm.
- I can play one song on the piano with both hands.
Sample lie: #3 · Swap in your own party piece.
- I was once locked in a library after closing time.
- I can whistle two notes at once.
- I hold a certificate in first aid.
Sample lie: #3 · A practical qualification is a believable lie.
- I repeated a science experiment until it finally worked.
- I am very good at untangling knots.
- I was always picked first for team games.
Sample lie: #3 · Pair a persistence story with a tiny talent.
- I can draw a convincing horse.
- I cannot snap my fingers.
- I read an entire encyclopaedia volume for fun.
Sample lie: #3 · Choose things people can ask you to prove — or not.
- I started learning a language last year.
- I once got full marks on a test by accident.
- I can identify ten birds by their song.
Sample lie: #3 · Nature knowledge makes a tidy lie.
- I was taught to sew by my grandfather.
- I can stand on one leg for five minutes.
- I have never forgotten a birthday.
Sample lie: #3 · Mix a family skill with a bold "never".
- I kept a pet snail in my school desk.
- I can parallel park in one attempt.
- I was the fastest reader in my class.
Sample lie: #3 · School-day oddities beat grand claims.
- I wrote a newspaper for my street as a child.
- I am hopeless at remembering jokes.
- I can solve a puzzle cube in under two minutes.
Sample lie: #3 · End with a skill someone might ask to see.