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A daily game for Android Coming soon

Real or fake?

Every day, a new deck of real headlines and hoaxes, each card reviewed by an editor before it reaches you. Swipe, then learn the true story.

Try a card

Coming soon to Google Play · Android 8 or later · About two minutes a day · No account needed

How it plays

Ten cards. One swipe each. The true story every time.

  1. Read the claim

    A headline, a tech story or an internet legend, mostly from the past week, with where it was seen. On quiet news days, a classic myth fills in.

    A card in the app: the claim The US once printed a $100,000 bill, in the Money category, seen on money trivia, with the Fake and Real buttons below

  2. Swipe right for real, left for fake

    Or tap the buttons. Fake covers made-up stories, real events blown out of proportion, satire shared as news and true facts arranged to mislead.

    The same card tilting to the right as it is swiped, stamped REAL

  3. Learn what really happened

    The verdict, the true story in two sentences, a tip for spotting the next one, and the sources, so you can check for yourself.

    The reveal: You got it, this story is REAL, two sentences on the $100,000 gold certificate of 1934, a How to spot it tip, and the source, the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing

  4. The game in action

    Two cards from the Classic myths deck, one real and one fake, as the app plays them: the swipe, the stamp, the reveal.

The reveal

The best part comes after the swipe.

Right or wrong, every card ends the same way: with what actually happened, and how you could have figured it out.

The reveal screen for the card The US once printed a $100,000 bill: You got it, this story is REAL, the true story, the How to spot it tip, and the source
  1. The verdictReal or fake, and whether you got it.
  2. The true storyTwo sentences of context, written from the sources.
  3. How to spot itOne habit to use on the next claim you see.
  4. The sourcesOpen them and check for yourself.

Swipe right: real

  • RealThe claim, as worded, is true.

Swipe left: fake

  • FakeFalse or made up, including AI images or video presented as real.
  • ExaggeratedA real event, inflated beyond what happened.
  • MisleadingTrue pieces arranged to suggest something false.
  • SatireA joke story shared as if it were real news.

Try a card

Three classic myths. How many can you call?

Swipe the card, tap a button, or use the left and right arrow keys.

  1. Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

    Science Seen on: Popular saying

    You got it!

    Not this time

    You said FakeReal

    This story is FAKE

    Lightning often strikes the same place repeatedly, especially tall, pointed and isolated objects. The Empire State Building is hit about 23 times a year on average.

    How to spot itSayings aren't evidence. A quick search for one counterexample often settles it.

    Source: US National Weather Service

  2. Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.

    Nature Seen on: Animal fact post

    You got it!

    Not this time

    You said FakeReal

    This story is REAL

    Octopuses have three hearts: one pumps blood around the body and the other two pump it through the gills. Their blood is blue because it carries oxygen using copper rather than iron.

    How to spot itWeird-but-true animal facts are common. Check a science outlet before deciding it's too strange to be real.

    Source: BBC Science Focus

  3. Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when they're scared.

    Nature Seen on: Popular myth

    You got it!

    Not this time

    You said FakeReal

    This story is FAKE

    Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand. When threatened and unable to run, they lie flat with the head and neck stretched along the ground, which from a distance can look as if the head is buried.

    How to spot itMany myths start as a real sight, misread from far away. Ask what someone actually saw.

    Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Card 1 of 3

Right if it's real, left if it's fake.

These three cards come from the game's Classic myths deck, never from today's deck.

Every day

Ten cards a day. A habit, not a feed.

Keep your streak going

Every deck you finish adds a day. Missed one? A streak freeze keeps it, after a short video you choose to watch. The last seven decks wait in the archive.

Stats that teach

See which kinds of story fool you most, and whether you lean real or fake. Milestones mark the way, and a recap sums up your week.

Calm by design

At most one ad break, at the end of a deck. No account and no feed; a daily reminder only if you ask for it.

How we fact-check

Reviewed by an editor, every card.

The game is only worth playing if the answers are right. Here is how each card gets made.

Sources on every card

Fake cards rest on a published fact-check or reputable reporting; real ones on a fact-check, a primary source or two independent reputable outlets. Every card links to them.

An AI model drafts, a person decides

An AI model drafts each card from facts its sources state, a second check compares every fact with the source pages, and an editor reviews it before it is published.

Some topics stay out

No politics, war, deaths or violence, religion, extremism, health claims, or anything about private people or children.

Mistakes get fixed

Tap Report a mistake on any card. A wrong card leaves the game and stops counting, and the correction is listed on our public corrections page.

Read how we fact-check

Also from the studio

Two more games from Data Driven Decisions.

Marble Codex

A puzzle, not a race: drop marbles through Leonardo da Vinci's machines. 40 machines, no timers, no account.

See Marble Codex →

Brickography

Turn any photo into a brick picture you can really build, with a parts list and instructions.

See Brickography →

Coming soon

Be one of the first players.

Fake News or Fact? is in closed testing with a small group of testers, and arrives on Google Play soon. Until then, try three of its cards.

Questions? Write to support.datadrivendecisions@gmail.com