Who knows me best is a contest, not a test. One person sits in the middle, two or more people claim to know them better than anyone alive, and the questions decide it in front of witnesses. Mum against dad, best friend against partner, sister against the friend from university who thinks she is the real sister.
Below are 98 questions sorted by who is competing, a round of daft ones, and a hard mode for when the scores are level and everybody has gone quiet. Every question is written from the point of view of the person being guessed, so you can read them out exactly as they are.
How to play who knows me better
Ten minutes of setup, and the game runs itself. You need paper and pens, or a small whiteboard each if you want it to feel like a television studio.
Choose the subject and the contenders
One person is the subject. Two to four people are the contenders, and everyone else is the audience, who are allowed to heckle but not to help.
The subject answers first, in private
Before the game, the subject writes their true answer to every question on one sheet and folds it. This stops them changing an answer halfway through to favour whoever they like best that day.
Contenders answer at the same time
Read a question out. Every contender writes an answer without conferring and holds it face down until the host says reveal.
Reveal and score
Contenders flip their answers, then the subject reads out the real one. One point for a match. The host rules on near misses, and the subject is not allowed to be the judge.
Settle a draw with hard mode
If it is level after the main questions, go to the hard mode list at the bottom of this page and play one question at a time until somebody misses.
For the family
18 questionsBuilt for a table of parents, siblings, grandparents and whichever cousin turned up. Skip anything that doubles as a bank security question, like a first pet or the street you grew up on.
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What was my first word, according to family legend?
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Which family holiday do I still bring up, and what happened on it?
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What did I get told off for most as a child?
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What is my usual order from the family takeaway?
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Who in this family do I ring first when I have gossip?
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Which chore did I always manage to get out of?
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What pet did I beg for and never get?
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Which school photo would I pay to have destroyed?
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Whose cooking do I quietly rate highest, apart from my own?
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What do I always do at family gatherings that everyone now expects?
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Which Christmas film could I watch every single year?
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What is my actual job title, not "something with computers"?
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Which board game did I once refuse to finish, and who was I losing to?
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What have I broken in this house and never owned up to?
The confession is worth a point on its own.
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What time do I really go to bed?
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Which family saying or in-joke do I use the most?
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What was the first thing I bought with my own money?
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If the whole family moved tomorrow, where would I vote to go?
For friends
18 questionsThese reward the friend who has been paying attention in the group chat, rather than the one who has simply known you longest.
- 1
How did we meet, and who spoke first?
- 2
What is my most used phrase in the group chat?
- 3
What is my karaoke song?
- 4
Which celebrity would I most like to be stuck in a lift with?
- 5
What do I drink when somebody else is paying?
- 6
Which ex would I cross the road to avoid?
- 7
What is my worst habit that you have all learned to live with?
- 8
How long do I honestly take to reply to a message?
- 9
What is the worst haircut I have ever had?
- 10
Which night out do we still talk about, and what did I do on it?
- 11
What is my comfort show, the one I rewatch when I am ill?
- 12
What would I buy first with a lottery win?
- 13
What would my specialist subject be on Mastermind?
- 14
Which friend in this room have I known the longest?
- 15
What am I weirdly competitive about?
- 16
What is on my phone lock screen right now?
- 17
Which food will I refuse even to try?
- 18
Who would I call to collect me from somewhere at three in the morning?
Birthday edition
16 questionsFor a birthday party where the person being celebrated is the subject. Have them fill in the answer sheet before the guests arrive.
How old do I feel today, as opposed to how old I am?
What was my best birthday ever?
What is the worst birthday present I have ever been given, and who gave it?
What cake would I choose if nobody was judging?
What did I do for my eighteenth?
Which birthday tradition do I insist on every year?
Which year of my life would I happily live again?
What age did I think was old when I was ten?
What is at the top of my wish list right now?
Who is always the last person to wish me happy birthday?
What do I want to have done before my next birthday?
What song would I want playing as I walk into my own party?
Which birthday party did I cry at, or leave early?
What was the biggest thing that happened to me in the past year?
Where would I spend my birthday if money did not matter?
Which present from tonight am I secretly most pleased with?
The funny ones
16 questionsThere is no single correct answer to most of these, so the subject picks the answer closest to their own and the room decides whether it counts.
What would my wrestling name be?
What is the most likely thing I would be arrested for?
If I were a kitchen appliance, which one would I be?
What is my most irrational fear?
What is the most ridiculous thing I have ever cried at?
What would I go viral for, if it happened tomorrow?
Which animal would I pick a fight with and lose to?
What is the strangest thing in my bag or pockets right now?
What would I name a boat?
Which conspiracy theory would I half believe after two glasses of wine?
What is my signature dance move?
What would my last meal be?
Which word do I always get wrong?
What is the first thing I would do in a zombie apocalypse?
Which fictional character am I most like, to my annoyance?
What would my autobiography be called?
Quizriella
Or let everyone write the questions and play it as a show
The weak point of who knows me best is the setup. One person has to write the questions and the answer sheet, and whoever does that cannot play. Quizriella turns it around: the host shares an invite code, every player writes questions about the others on their own phone, in secret, and the app arranges them into a presenter-led game show.
So instead of one subject in the middle, everybody is the subject of somebody else's question at some point in the evening, which is fairer and considerably louder.
- Players write in secret, so the host gets to play too
- Hot seats, buzzer races, dares and a podium between the questions
- Teams if the cast is big, including pairs across the age gap
- Free to play a whole show in a browser, with optional paid photos and clips of the players
Hot seat
One player alone, the rest waiting to steal
Buzzers
Ten seconds, panic starts at three
Wheel of fate
Lands on a dare nobody volunteered for
Breaking news
A bulletin about whoever is losing
Mum or dad: who knows me better?
16 questionsThe most requested version, and the one most likely to end with a parent demanding a recount. Works whether you call them mum or mom.
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What was I most scared of as a toddler?
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What did I call my favourite toy?
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What was my first teacher called?
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How old was I when I lost my first tooth?
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What was my worst subject at school?
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Which food did I refuse as a child that I now love?
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What was my first proper job?
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Who is my closest friend at the moment?
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Roughly what time of day was I born?
Within an hour counts.
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Where was my first holiday abroad?
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Which of your meals do I ask for when I come home?
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Which of you do I think I take after?
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What did I do as a child that gave you the biggest fright?
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Who is my favourite band or singer right now?
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Which of you do I phone for advice, and which for a lift?
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What was my longest running phase: dinosaurs, horses, football, or something worse?
Hard mode, for the tiebreak
14 questionsPlay these one at a time between tied contenders. The first person to miss while the other gets it right loses the title.
- 1
What is my middle name, spelled correctly?
- 2
What is my exact shoe size, half sizes included?
- 3
Which three people, living or dead, would I invite to dinner?
A point for each one you get.
- 4
How exactly do I take my tea or coffee?
- 5
What was I doing this time last year?
- 6
Which song do I skip every time it comes on?
- 7
What is my verdict on pineapple on pizza, olives and coriander, all three?
- 8
What was the last thing I bought online?
- 9
Which of my opinions would start an argument at this table?
- 10
What is the thing I am proudest of and never mention?
- 11
What is my average daily screen time?
Closest guess wins, then check the phone.
- 12
What is the last book I actually finished?
- 13
What would I do with a completely free Saturday and no phone?
- 14
What did I want to be when I grew up, at seven, and what at seventeen?
Questions people ask
One person is the subject and two or more people compete to prove they know them best. The subject writes their true answers in private first, the contenders answer each question at the same time on paper, and a point goes to everyone who matches. Most points wins the title.
More ways to find out who really pays attention
How well do you know me questions: 88 for a quiz about you
How well do you know me questions for friends, couples and family, from easy warm ups to hard ones, with funny picks, childhood trivia and scoring bands.
92 family quiz questions about each other
Family quiz questions about each other for all ages: parents, grandparents, siblings, the kids, family legends, funny ones and some for small children.
103 most likely to questions for every kind of room
Most likely to questions for friends, family, kids, siblings, work, couples and girls night or hen do, with how to play and the questions to leave out.
Questions about each other
How players write the quiz in secret, so the host gets to play.
Party games for groups who know each other
More formats that run on shared history rather than general knowledge.
Games like Kahoot for parties, weddings and family nights
Games like Kahoot for a party rather than a classroom: what suits adults, families and a wedding, who writes the questions, and how to run one on the night.
Stop asking one person to write the whole game
Share one code and let everyone write questions about each other in secret. Quizriella turns them into a game show where anybody could be the subject next, and it is free to play.
Play it as a game showFree to play. Players join from their phones.