← All posts

The impostor game with questions: rules and 60 question pairs

Guezzer content team · 7 November 2026

How to play the impostor game with questions instead of words, with or without cards, plus 60 ready-made question pairs and answers to the rule arguments.

In the classic impostor game, everyone gets the same secret word except one player, who has to bluff. The question version works the same way, with one twist: instead of a word, everyone gets a question. All the players answer the same question, except the impostor, whose question is slightly different. Then everyone reveals their answers, and the group has to work out whose answer came from the wrong question.

It sounds like a small change, but it plays very differently. The impostor doesn’t even know they’re the impostor at first, so nobody is bluffing from the start. The fun comes later, when the answers are on the table and one of them is just a little bit off.

This post covers the rules, how to set it up without cards or an app, what makes a good question pair, and 60 pairs you can use tonight. If you want the original word version, we’ve covered it in how to play the impostor word game.

Why play it with questions

The word version has one weak spot: the impostor knows from the first second, and some people hate that pressure. Shy players, children and anyone who freezes when put on the spot often have a miserable time as the impostor.

The question version fixes that. Everyone answers honestly, so the first part of the round is relaxed. Even the impostor gives a real answer to a real question. The bluffing only starts once the main question is revealed and the impostor realises their answer has to be defended.

It’s also easier to explain. “Answer this question in one word” needs no tutorial, which makes it a good choice for mixed ages, family gatherings and groups where half the people have never played a party game.

The rules

1. Deal the questions. Everyone gets the same question in secret, except one player, who gets a different but similar one. Nobody knows who has the different question, including the player who has it.
2. Answer in secret. Each player writes their answer down, usually one word or a number. No talking.
3. Reveal at the same time. Everyone shows their answer at once. This matters: if people answer out loud in turn, later players copy earlier ones and the game falls apart.
4. Read out the main question. Now the main question is read aloud. At this point the impostor realises their question was different, and everyone else starts looking for the answer that doesn’t quite fit.
5. Discuss. Each player can explain their answer. The impostor has to make theirs sound like it fits the main question.
6. Vote. On the count of three, everyone points at the player they think had the different question. Most votes is out.
7. Reveal. If the group caught the impostor, the group wins the round. If they picked someone else, the impostor wins.

A round takes three to five minutes. Play until everyone has had a turn at writing the questions, or until the food arrives.

Should the impostor get a last chance?

In the word version, a caught impostor often gets one guess at the secret word. In the question version, the main question has already been read out, so that doesn’t work. If you want a comeback rule, try this: a caught impostor wins anyway if at least one other player says, after the reveal, “I’d have answered the same thing to your question.” It rewards impostors who answer cleverly and gives everyone a reason to be honest.

How to set it up without an app

The question version has one practical problem: somebody has to know both questions to deal them. That person can’t play the round. There are three easy ways around it.

A rotating question master. Each round, one player sits out and writes the questions. They write the main question on all the slips but one, and the impostor question on that one, fold them, mix them and hand them out. Next round, someone else is the question master. Everyone gets a turn, and the question master can also run the vote and keep the score.

With a deck of cards. The question master takes one card per player, all red except one black card. Each player draws a card. The question master then whispers the main question to everyone holding red and the other question to the person holding black. It’s faster than writing slips if your handwriting is slow.

With phones but no game. The question master sends each player a private message with their question. Everyone writes the answer on paper or in their phone’s notes, and you reveal by turning the screens round at once. Useful when you’re out and nobody has a pen.

If you’d rather nobody sits out, Faker has a Questions mode that deals the questions, picks a different impostor every round and counts the votes. It works for 3 to 12 players in the same room or on a video call.

What makes a good question pair

The whole game depends on the pair. Too similar and the impostor is invisible. Too different and they’re caught instantly. A good pair has answers that overlap a lot but not completely.

• Too close: “What’s your favourite fruit?” and “Which fruit do you like most?” Everyone gives the same answers, so there’s nothing to find.
• Too far: “What’s your favourite fruit?” and “What’s your favourite car?” One answer says “mango” and another says “Volvo”. Round over.
• Just right: “What’s your favourite fruit?” and “Which fruit would you put in a smoothie?” Banana, strawberry and mango work for both. Watermelon or grapes would make people look twice.

Questions with a number for an answer are especially good, because numbers overlap naturally. “How many hours do you sleep a night?” against “How many hours a day are you on your phone?” can produce 7 and 7, and the argument that follows is the best part of the game.

Avoid questions with only one obvious answer (“What colour is the sky?”) and questions that are too personal for the group. Anything about money, weight, exes or health is best left out unless everyone in the room is very close.

60 question pairs

The main question comes first. The impostor gets the one in brackets. Swap them round now and then, so regular players can’t learn the lists.

Food and drink

• What’s the best pizza topping? (What’s the best thing to put in a sandwich?)
• What do you eat for breakfast? (What do you eat when you get home late at night?)
• What would you cook for a first date? (What would you cook for your parents?)
• What do you order at a café? (What do you drink on a hot day?)
• Which fruit do you like most? (Which fruit would you put in a smoothie?)
• What’s always in your fridge? (What do you always buy at the supermarket?)
• What’s your favourite dessert? (What would you choose as a birthday cake?)
• What do you put on toast? (What do you put on pancakes?)
• What do you eat at a barbecue? (What do you take on a picnic?)
• What’s the worst food? (What food did you hate as a child?)

Everyday life

• What’s the first thing you do in the morning? (What’s the last thing you do before bed?)
• What’s always in your bag? (What do you check you have before leaving the house?)
• What do you do on a rainy Sunday? (What do you do when you’re ill at home?)
• Which app do you open most? (Which app would you keep if you could only keep one?)
• What do you use every day in the kitchen? (What’s the most useful thing in a kitchen?)
• What do you do while waiting for a bus? (What do you do in a doctor’s waiting room?)
• Which household chore do you hate most? (Which chore do you always put off?)
• What do you wear at home? (What do you wear on a lazy weekend?)
• What’s a good name for a dog? (What’s a good name for a cat?)
• What colour would you paint your bedroom? (What colour is most of your wardrobe?)

Travel and places

• Where would you go on honeymoon? (Where would you go with your best friend?)
• What do you pack first for a holiday? (What do you always forget to pack?)
• Which country would you like to visit? (Which country’s food do you like most?)
• What do you do on the first day of a holiday? (What do you do on a beach?)
• What’s the best way to travel? (How would you travel round Europe?)
• What would you buy as a souvenir? (What would you bring back for your neighbour?)
• Which city would you live in? (Which city would you visit for a weekend?)
• What do you do on a long flight? (What do you do on a long train journey?)

Numbers

• How many hours do you sleep a night? (How many hours a day are you on your phone?)
• How many cups of tea or coffee do you drink a day? (How many glasses of water do you drink a day?)
• At what age did you get your first phone? (At what age did you learn to ride a bike?)
• How many people would you invite to your birthday? (How many people are in your family group chat?)
• How many pairs of shoes do you own? (How many coats or jackets do you own?)
• How many minutes do you need to get ready in the morning? (How many minutes do you spend in the shower?)

Childhood and school

• What was your favourite subject at school? (Which subject were you best at?)
• What did you want to be when you grew up? (What job would you do if money didn’t matter?)
• What was your favourite toy? (What did you ask for on your birthday as a child?)
• What did you take to school for lunch? (What was the best school dinner?)
• Which cartoon did you watch most? (Which film did you watch again and again?)
• What game did you play at break time? (What game did you play at birthday parties?)

At work

• What’s the best thing about Fridays? (What’s the best thing about working from home?)
• What’s on your desk? (What would you bring to a new office on day one?)
• What do you do in your lunch break? (What do you do when a meeting is cancelled?)
• What’s the most overused word in meetings? (What do people say most on video calls?)
• Which snack should every office have? (What would you bring to a team picnic?)
• What’s a good team activity? (What’s a good theme for an office party?)

Friends and evenings out

• Where’s the best place for a first date? (Where would you take a friend visiting your city?)
• What’s the perfect Friday night? (What’s the perfect birthday?)
• What do you order at a bar? (What do you drink at a wedding?)
• What’s a good gift for a best friend? (What’s a good gift to take to a dinner party?)
• Which film would you watch on a date? (Which film would you watch with friends?)
• Which song would you sing at karaoke? (Which song would you play at a party?)

For kids and families

• Which animal would you like as a pet? (Which animal would you like to be?)
• What’s the best thing about summer? (What’s the best thing about the weekend?)
• What would you take to a sleepover? (What would you take to the beach?)
• Which superpower would you want? (What would you do if you were invisible for a day?)
• What’s the best ice cream flavour? (What’s the best sweet?)
• What would you build with blocks? (What would you build in the sand?)
• What’s the best game to play in the park? (What’s the best game to play in the snow?)
• What’s the scariest animal? (Which animal lives in the sea?)

Scoring a whole evening

One round is fun. A scoreboard turns it into an evening.

• Every player who votes for the impostor scores 1.
• The impostor scores 3 if they escape.
• The question master scores 1 if the vote was close (the impostor got at least one vote but wasn’t caught, or was caught by a single vote). It rewards writing good pairs.

First to 10 wins. Write the names on a sheet of paper and keep a tally.

Variations

Two impostors. With eight or more players, give two people the different question. They don’t know about each other, which makes the discussion much messier.

No reveal. The main question is never read out. Everyone just looks at the answers and votes. Much harder for the group, much easier for the impostor. Good for experienced players.

Three answers. Each player writes three answers instead of one. More information for the group, but also more places for the impostor to blend in.

Draw it. Instead of writing an answer, everyone draws it in thirty seconds. “Draw your dream house” against “Draw your dream holiday” produces wonderful, confusing results.

Questions about the group. “Who in this room is most likely to be late?” against “Who in this room is most likely to forget a birthday?” Answers are names. Only for groups who know each other well and can laugh about it.

Common questions

If the impostor guesses the word, do they win? In the word version of the game, most groups play that a caught impostor gets one guess at the secret word and steals the win if they get it right. In the question version there’s nothing left to guess, because the main question has been read out. Use the comeback rule above if you want something similar.

Does the impostor know they’re the impostor? Not at first. They only find out when the main question is read out and it doesn’t match theirs. That’s the main difference from the word version.

Can you play with three people? Yes, but it’s hard for the impostor, because two matching answers make the third stand out. Four to ten players is the best range. With more than ten, use two impostors.

What if two answers are identical, including the impostor’s? That’s a good pair doing its job. The group has to look at the discussion, not just the answers.

Can the question master play? Not in the round they wrote, because they know who the impostor is. That’s why the job rotates.

Common mistakes

• Answering out loud in turn. Always write answers down and reveal together, or the last players just copy.
• Pairs that are too far apart. If the impostor is caught in the first ten seconds every round, make the pairs closer.
• Questions that need long answers. One word or a number. “Describe your perfect day” produces paragraphs and kills the pace.
• Forgetting to rotate the question master. The same person writing every round gets bored, and their style becomes easy to read.

One last tip

The best moment in the question version is when the main question is read out and the impostor’s face changes for half a second. Watch for it. Everyone is looking at the answers, but the real giveaway is usually the person who suddenly gets very interested in their drink.