Real or Fake?
Truth is stranger than anything we could make up
Some events actually happened. Some are expertly fabricated fakes. Read each event and decide: truth or fiction? Build an unbroken streak and discover that reality is often stranger than anything we could invent.
Vibe: Unbelievable
How to Play
Fact-check history
Read the event
A historical event appears. It sounds plausible. But is it real? Some are genuine. Others are carefully constructed fakes.
"In 1923, a French army corporal occupied the Ruhr Valley with a pet monkey named Marcel."
Judge it
Tap "Real" or "Fake." Trust your knowledge, your instincts, and your ability to spot the tells of fabrication.
Real events sometimes sound absurd. Fake ones often sound perfectly reasonable.
Build your streak
Correct answers extend your streak. Wrong answers end it. After each answer, you see the truth and learn something new.
The explanations are half the fun -- history is wild.
Example Round
Can you tell?
"In 1932, Australia declared war on emus after the flightless birds destroyed crops in Western Australia. The military deployed soldiers with Lewis guns. The emus won."
"In 1847, Queen Victoria commissioned a steam-powered royal carriage that could reach 40 miles per hour, making her the first monarch to travel faster than a horse."
The Moment
When truth is stranger
The best moments in Real or Fake are when you're certain something is fake -- and it turns out to be true. Australia really did lose a war to emus. A pope really did put a dead body on trial. History doesn't need to be invented to be unbelievable.
The game trains your critical thinking in a way that's directly applicable to the modern world. In an age of misinformation, the ability to evaluate claims is a superpower.
"I said 'fake' to the Emu War. I said 'real' to the steam carriage. I was wrong both times. This game humbles you."
Think you can spot the fakes?
New events every day. Some real, some fabricated. Your job: tell the difference.
Play Real or Fake now