60 Truth Questions With No Dares, from Sarhny (صارحني)

Truth or dare has a design flaw. The dares need a room, a willing group and somebody with ideas, and once they run out the game is over. The truths need nothing but a person and a question, and they are the part you end up talking about on the way home. So drop the dares. This guide gives you 60 truth questions for friends, four rules that keep the game comfortable, a few formats to stop it going flat, and a way to play when your friends live in other cities.

Why the game works better without dares

A dare asks someone to perform. A truth asks them to tell you something. That difference changes the whole evening. Nobody has to find a prop, film anything, or do something they will regret in order to keep up. You can play in a car, on a video call, in a queue, or over breakfast.

Removing dares also removes the easy escape route. In the classic game, a player can pick dare to avoid a question, and the evening slides into stunts. Here the only choices are to answer or to pass, which means the conversation stays a conversation. It also takes away the pressure to top the last dare, since one good answer does not force the next person to go further.

There is one thing you lose: the built-in break from intensity. A dare is silly, and silly gives everyone a breather. You need to put that back by mixing light questions in with the deeper ones, which is why the list below is sorted by mood and not by difficulty alone.

Four rules that keep it fun

Say these out loud before the first question. They take less time than shuffling a deck of cards.

1. The asker answers too. Whoever reads a question also answers it, after the other person. If you would not answer it yourself, do not ask it. This single rule stops the game turning into an interrogation.
2. Everyone gets two passes. A pass needs no explanation and earns no teasing. Once a player has used both, they can still swap for a lighter question from the list.
3. One follow-up, then move on.A single “wait, why?” is half the fun. A second and a third start to feel like cross-examination.
4. It stays in the room. No screenshots, no retelling, no bringing it up in a joke next week. People answer honestly when they trust where the answer goes.

Warm-up questions

Start here. These are easy to answer, and each one still tells you something you did not know.

• What is the last thing you searched for that you would not read aloud?
• Which app takes more of your time than you would admit?
• What is your go-to excuse for cancelling plans?
• What do you pretend to like because it is easier?
• Which chore would you pay anything to never do again?
• What is the last thing that made you laugh alone?
• Which food do you say you love but never choose?
• What is on your to-do list that has been there for over a year?
• What do you do first when you get home after a long day?
• Who was the last person you looked up online, and why?
• What is the pettiest reason you have stopped liking something?
• Which of your hobbies exists mainly in your head?

Funny questions

Use these whenever the mood needs lifting, or straight after a heavy answer. If you run out, our funny questions page has more.

• What is the worst haircut you have paid for?
• Which text have you sent to the wrong person?
• What have you done on a video call that you hope nobody saw?
• What is the strangest thing you have cried over?
• Which movie have you pretended to have seen?
• What is the least useful skill you are proud of?
• What have you blamed on someone else and never corrected?
• What would your phone say about you if it could talk?
• What is the worst gift you pretended to love?
• Which song would you be embarrassed to have on your top list?
• What is your strangest habit when nobody is home?
• What is a word you said wrong for years?

Hot takes

These ask for an opinion, and an opinion is safer than a confession. They are ideal for a group that likes a friendly argument.

• Which popular show do you think is overrated?
• What is a compliment you do not actually enjoy getting?
• What is a social rule you would delete tomorrow?
• What do people praise that you find a bit fake?
• Is it worse to be late or to cancel? Defend your answer.
• What is something you think we should stop posting online?
• Which piece of popular advice is terrible?
• What is a trend you refuse to join?
• What are you a snob about, and are you right?
• What is an opinion you changed only because of one person?
• Should friends tell each other when a partner is bad news?
• What do you think this group gets wrong about you?

Memories and confessions

These suit friends with some history. They go further back and let people say what they never quite got round to.

• What did you think about this friend group before you joined it?
• Which story about you has been told wrong for years?
• What is something you took the credit for and should not have?
• Which decision looks smarter now than it did then?
• What is the kindest thing a stranger has done for you?
• When did you last pretend to be fine?
• What was your worst job, and what did you learn from it?
• Who do you owe a message you have been putting off?
• Which risk are you glad you took?
• What secret have you kept for someone else, without naming them?
• What is a moment you still replay in your head?
• What did you once want badly that you no longer care about?

Deeper questions

Save these for the end of the night, for smaller groups, or for a long drive with one person. Ask them only once the table feels relaxed.

• What are you tired of being good at?
• What do you wish people asked you about?
• What would you tell yourself from five years ago?
• When did you last feel really proud of yourself?
• What is something you are still working on forgiving?
• What part of your life looks better from the outside?
• Who do you find it hardest to say no to?
• What are you quietly hoping happens next year?
• What does support look like for you when things go badly?
• Which of your fears would surprise us?
• What have you stopped apologizing for?
• What would you do if you stopped worrying about how it looked?

If your group wants questions aimed at each other and not at the player, our list of honest questions to ask friends picks up where this one stops.

Five ways to play so it never goes flat

Going round the circle works for twenty minutes. After that, change the format and the same questions feel new.

• Hot seat. One person gets three quick questions from the group, answering each in a sentence. Then the seat moves on.
• Everyone answers. Read one question and let the whole group answer it in turn. This suits the hot takes section.
• The jar. Everyone writes three questions on slips of paper. Nobody knows who wrote which, so people can ask what they might not say aloud.
• Guess first. Before a player answers, the others predict what they will say. Wrong guesses are half the entertainment.
• Loser answers. Play any quick game, and whoever loses the round takes the question. The game night guide has a full plan for an evening built on this idea.

How to write your own truth questions

A good truth question has a small target. “What are you afraid of?” is too wide and gets a shrug. “What is a phone call you keep avoiding?” has one real answer, and the player already knows it. Ask about a specific moment, person or habit, and aim for something that can be answered in a sentence or two.

Keep the question about the person answering. The ones that cause damage are about somebody else: who in the room they like least, what they really think of a friend who is sitting right there, what someone told them in confidence. Also skip anything that pushes on money, health, family trouble or a recent loss, unless the person brings it up themselves. A game should never be the way someone gets cornered into talking about those.

What to do when an answer gets heavy

Now and then a question lands harder than anyone expected, and someone shares something real. Do not rush to the next question, and do not try to fix it. Thank them for saying it, ask if they want to keep talking or move on, and follow their lead. If the moment calls for it, end the game there. A good conversation is the point of playing, so stopping for one is not a failure.

Playing when you are not in the same room

A video call handles the classic format well, but you can also let a game hand out the questions. In Showdown, the rock paper scissors game inside Sarhny (صارحني), you pick a hand and guess your opponent's each round, and the first to five points wins. The winner then writes one question and the loser has 60 seconds to answer, with a single chance to swap it. You choose a light, bold or funny mood before the match, and the answer is not posted to anyone's profile.

For the slips-in-a-jar effect at a distance, a mirrordoes a similar job. You write one question, share the link, and friends answer without signing their names. The answers come back to you alone. The sender's identity is not shown to the account owner or any other user, and we don't reveal senders' identities or sell your data.

Pick one section from the list, send a question to a friend tonight, and answer it yourself first. That is the whole game, and it needs no dares at all.