The Baloney Guide
Baloney is a free, no-signup daily game that tests one very human skill: your ability to smell a lie. Every day everyone gets the same case of ten rounds. Each round shows three short statements on a rotating topic — space, animals, history, food, language, geography, everyday science — and exactly one of the three is a fabrication we invented. The other two are surprising but true. Your job is to spot the fake before the timer runs out. You are never asked what is true; you are asked to catch what is false, which is a different and oddly satisfying muscle. A person who knows nothing about the topic can still be an elite baloney-detector, because you win by smell, not by recall.
How to play
Open today's case and read the three statements. When one of them makes your eyebrow twitch, tap it — that is your accusation. A per-round timer of about thirty seconds keeps you honest; if it expires before you choose, the round counts as a miss. The moment you tap, the round is revealed: the real fabrication is stamped FAKE, the two true statements are marked TRUE, and every one of the three carries a one-line truth, so you always leave knowing the real story. The fake also shows what share of today's players it fooled. After ten rounds you get your Baloney Detector verdict — a score out of ten, a verdict band from "Believes Everything" to "Baloney Immune", your daily streak, and where you rank against everyone else that day. Then you can share the verdict card and see if a friend can beat you.
Tips for sniffing out the fake
- Trust the statement that is too clean. Real facts are lumpy and specific; a fabrication is often suspiciously tidy and quotable.
- Watch for a number that is a little too perfect — an exact round figure or a record that sounds designed to impress is worth a second look.
- Remember that true statements are chosen to sound fake on purpose. "That can't be real" is not evidence; two of the three earn that reaction honestly.
- Do not overthink a topic you know well. Confidence in your own expertise is exactly where a good fabrication hides.
- Use the whole timer. Re-reading the other two statements often reveals which one is quietly impossible.
- Play daily. A week of streaks shows whether your nose is genuinely sharp or just lucky.
Frequently asked questions
Are the "facts" real? The two true statements in every round are genuinely true and checked. The third is a fabrication we wrote ourselves, and it is always revealed and corrected in the same round, so nothing false is left planted in your head.
Is it the same case for everyone? Yes. Each UTC day serves one shared set of ten rounds, chosen by a fixed rotation with no repeats until the whole pool has cycled.
Do I need an account? No. Your streak and today's result live in your own browser, and we never ask for personal details.
What is the "% got fooled" number? It is the honest share of that day's players who fell for the same fabrication. When too few people have played, we hide it rather than invent a crowd.
Can I play more than once a day? There is one fresh case per day. Curious about old ones? The case archive declassifies every past day.