How well do you know your friends? 7 party games that test it

Everyone has a friend who says "I know you better than you know yourself". Most of the time there's no way to check. The games below fix that: each one turns knowing your friends into something you can test, score or at least argue about.

We've included classics that need nothing but a group of people, a couple that need paper, and one app. In the spirit of honesty: that app is ours, Mind Raider, and it's last on the list.

What makes a good "know your friends" game?

The best ones share three features:

• Hidden answers. If people answer out loud one after another, later players copy or react to earlier ones. Secret answers, revealed together, are what make guessing interesting.
• A real reveal. The fun is in the moment when everyone sees what everyone else actually thought.
• A reason to explain. The best conversations happen right after a surprising answer, when someone says "OK, let me explain".

1. Two Truths and a Lie

Players: 3 or more. Needs: nothing.

One person shares three statements about themselves: two true, one false. Everyone else guesses the lie. Take turns until everyone has gone.

Why it works: it tests what you know about someone's history, not their opinions. Close friends have a clear advantage, which is half the fun when they get it wrong.

Tip: the best lies are boring and the best truths are strange. "I've never broken a bone" is a better lie than "I met a celebrity".

2. Who's Most Likely To

Players: 4 or more. Needs: nothing.

Someone reads a prompt like "Who's most likely to forget their own birthday?" and on the count of three, everyone points at a person. Whoever gets the most fingers has to defend themselves.

Why it works: it shows how the group sees each person, which isn't always how they see themselves. Keep prompts affectionate; this is the easiest game on the list to turn mean.

3. The couples quiz

Players: pairs. Needs: paper and pens, or cards.

Made famous by TV game shows, this one splits couples (or best friends) up. One partner answers questions about the other privately ("What's their go-to takeaway order?"), then the other partner answers the same questions about themselves. Matching answers score a point.

Why it works: it's a direct test with a scoreboard, and it works for any pair that claims to know each other well: siblings, roommates, best friends.

4. The Hot Seat

Players: 3 to 8. Needs: a list of questions.

One player sits in the hot seat. The group asks them a question, but before they answer, everyone else writes down what they think the answer will be. Then the hot seat player answers and anyone who guessed right scores. Rotate after five questions.

Why it works: everyone guesses every round, so nobody is waiting for their turn. Use questions with a small number of possible answers, otherwise nobody can ever be "right".

5. Paranoia

Players: 4 or more, sitting in a circle. Needs: a coin.

One player whispers a question to the person next to them, such as "Who here is the worst at keeping secrets?". That person answers out loud with just a name. Then they flip a coin: heads, the question is revealed to the group; tails, it stays a secret and the named person never finds out why.

Why it works: the coin flip creates suspense, and it tests how well you can guess the question from the answer. It's more about chaos than accuracy, and best with a group that knows each other well.

6. Would You Rather, with predictions

Players: 2 or more. Needs: a list of "would you rather" questions.

Classic Would You Rather asks everyone to pick between two options. Add one rule: before anyone answers, each person predicts what the player on their left will choose. Score one point for each correct prediction.

Why it works: a tiny change turns a conversation game into a reading game. With only two options it's easier to guess, so it's a good warm-up before harder games.

7. Mind Raider

Players: 2 to 6 per party. Needs: an Android phone each.

Mind Raider combines the best parts of the games above into one round. Everyone gets the same question with four answers, such as "Can money buy happiness?" with "Yes, absolutely", "Up to a point", "It buys freedom" and "No". You secretly pick yours, then guess what each other player picked. Every correct read is worth 40 points, and the reveal shows exactly who read whom.

Why it works: everyone guesses everyone, every round, with hidden answers and a timed reveal, and the scoring is done for you. Four answers instead of two make it harder to guess than Would You Rather but easier than open questions. Because each player uses their own phone, it also works on a video call. You can write your own questions too, which is ideal for in-jokes.

Downsides, to be fair: it needs phones and an internet connection, and right now it's Android only. If someone in your group is on iPhone, one of the six games above is the better choice.

Which game should you pick?

Why we're worse at this than we think

If you try any of these games, you'll probably notice something odd: people who have known each other for years often guess no better than people who met last month. It isn't just you. Psychologists have studied this for decades, and the research suggests that closeness makes us more confident about the people we know, without making us much more accurate.

We wrote about the science, and what actually helps, in why we misread our friends. If you want questions to use in any of these games, start with our list of 60 debate questions that split any group.