Would You Rather Questions

What makes a good would you rather question

A good question splits the room. If everyone picks the same side in a second, there is nothing to talk about. These three things make a question work:

• Balanced: both choices cost something. "Would you rather get two thousand dollars today or get fifty dollars every week for a year?" sounds easy until you do the math.
• Tempting: both choices are fun to picture, like "Would you rather freeze time for one hour a day or rewind time by ten seconds whenever you want?"
• Concrete: people can see it in their heads. A pet dinosaur the size of a cat is easier to argue about than "being powerful."

How to play would you rather

You need two or more people. Read the question out loud, let everyone pick, then ask each person why. The reasons are the fun part, and there is no score.

The tool has no voting button, so ask people to raise their hands or move to one side of the room. Here is how it fits different settings:

• Groups and parties: set How many to 1, press Full screen and put the page on a TV. Press the Space key for each new round.
• Classroom icebreaker: draw one Easy question, have students move to the side of the room that matches their pick, then hear one reason from each side.
• Family dinner: pick Food or For kids and let each person read the next question.
• Road trip: the passenger draws 10 at once and reads them out one by one.
• Video call: share your screen, or press Share and send the link in the chat so everyone sees the same question.

Funny vs hard questions, and when to use each

Funny questions are for warming up a group that does not know each other yet. They are silly, low stakes and quick to answer: "Would you rather have a cat that barks or have a dog that meows?"

Hard questions are for people who already feel at ease. Every one is Medium or Deep, and many have no clear right answer, like "Would you rather get to relive your best day once a year or get to skip your worst day once a year?" Save them for when you have time to listen.

A good night often starts funny and ends hard. Begin with Funny and Easy, then switch the category once people start giving longer answers.

Want open questions instead of two choices? Try the random question generator. For a party game with dares, use the truth or dare generator, and for meeting someone new, our conversation starters.

Would you rather questions for kids

The For kids category has 32 questions, all Easy, about pets, toys, castles and pillow forts: "Would you rather have a pet dinosaur the size of a cat or have a pet cat the size of a dinosaur?"

Many Funny and Food questions work for kids too, like "Would you rather eat one cupcake the size of a car or eat a thousand cupcakes the size of peas?" In all, 131 of the 256 questions are marked as suitable for kids. Nothing in the set is sexual, gross beyond mild silliness, or about real people.

For older kids who like to argue a point, try our debate topics for kids.

Use it as a speaking or ESL activity

Would you rather questions make a simple speaking task: the question gives students the words, and the answer has a clear shape, "I would rather ... because ..."

Set the timer to 30 sec for beginners and 1 min for stronger students. Ask for one reason and one example before the sound. For a harder task, have a partner argue for the other choice.

For more speaking practice, see our ESL conversation topics or the table topics questions, which have a timer for 1 to 2 minute answers.

Write your own would you rather questions

Once your group gets the idea, let them write a few. These rules keep the questions good:

• Start from something your group knows: a class trip, a family habit, a favorite food.
• Give each choice a catch, so neither side wins easily.
• Keep both choices the same size. "A thousand dollars or a free lunch" is not a real choice.
• Read it out loud. If it takes more than one breath, cut it down.