Hard would you rather questions
Below are 49 hard would you rather questions, numbered so you can read straight down or point at one by number. Every one is a real trade-off: whichever side you pick, you lose something you would have liked to keep. Use the game above to meet them one at a time in a shuffled order, or press Print for a paper copy to take to class or the table.
The easiest way to play is to pick a side, then ask the group why. The reasons are the game, and the picks are only where the talking starts. Hard here means thoughtful, not frightening, and the deck suits teens and up. If the room wants something lighter, or the players are younger, the full would you rather list has questions for every mood. If you want wilder, try the crazy would you rather questions.
- Would you rather get $500,000 right now or get $2,500 every month for the rest of your life?
- Would you rather redo one day from your past or skip one day in your future?
- Would you rather lose every photo and video you have ever taken or lose every message and email you have ever sent?
- Would you rather have a job you love two hours from home or have a job you like five minutes from home?
- Would you rather pause time for everyone else for one hour a day or rewind the last ten minutes once a day?
- Would you rather know the ending of every movie before you watch it or never be able to watch the same movie twice?
- Would you rather get $15,000 that you can spend this week or get $50,000 that you can't touch for ten years?
- Would you rather get your whole year's pay on January 1 or get paid every two weeks with a 10 percent bonus?
- Would you rather get free rent for the next three years or get a free new car every five years for life?
- Would you rather get a $10,000 shopping spree that you must spend within one hour or get $3,000 in cash to spend whenever you like?
- Would you rather go to your dream college with a big loan to pay off or go to a good college completely for free?
- Would you rather get free groceries for life, but only plain store brands or eat out for free once a week anywhere you like?
- Would you rather pay $30 a month to never see another ad or see twice as many ads everywhere, for free?
- Would you rather keep a perfect video of one day from every year of your life or keep one blurry photo from every single day of your life?
- Would you rather lose every playlist you have ever made or lose every note you have ever saved on your phone?
- Would you rather forget everything about your favorite book so you can read it fresh or get a sequel to your favorite book that is only okay?
- Would you rather have a diary that writes itself each night, but your family can read it or keep no diary at all and let the ordinary days fade?
- Would you rather get an extra free hour every weekday or get one extra day off every two weeks?
- Would you rather skip every line you ever face, but pay full price for everything or wait in every line, but pay half price for everything?
- Would you rather have a robot that does every chore but tells the neighbors what it sees or do every chore yourself and keep your home private?
- Would you rather know how to fix anything in your home or know how to cook any dish you have ever tasted?
- Would you rather learn any skill twice as fast, but forget it twice as fast or learn at normal speed and keep everything you learn?
- Would you rather remember everything you have ever looked up or find any answer in five seconds, but remember none of it?
- Would you rather be a brilliant writer who freezes up when speaking or be a brilliant speaker whose writing is a mess?
- Would you rather always know the fair price of anything you want to buy or always know the best day to buy it?
- Would you rather always get brutally honest feedback on your work or always get kind feedback that skips over the problems?
- Would you rather spend a year traveling the world with one backpack or spend a year in your dream home without leaving your town?
- Would you rather sleep in your own bed every night for the rest of your life or sleep somewhere new every night for a year?
- Would you rather live a calm life with one huge adventure every ten years or live a busy life with a small adventure every month?
- Would you rather spend a month alone in a cabin with no internet or spend a month on a cruise ship with thousands of strangers?
- Would you rather get a free week-long vacation every summer to a place picked for you or pay for your own trip every summer, anywhere you like?
- Would you rather drive a beautiful old car that breaks down often or drive a boring new car that never has a single problem?
- Would you rather work four long days a week or work five short days a week?
- Would you rather have a brilliant boss who never praises you or have a kind boss who is always disorganized?
- Would you rather earn more with a job title nobody understands or earn less with a job title everyone admires?
- Would you rather share a home with three roommates and save a lot each month or live alone and save almost nothing?
- Would you rather live rent-free next door to your parents or pay full rent in any city you choose, far from home?
- Would you rather have a huge kitchen and a tiny bedroom or have a huge bedroom and a tiny kitchen?
- Would you rather have your location always shared with your family or have your monthly spending shown to all your friends?
- Would you rather have every receipt you have ever gotten made public or have every voicemail you have ever left made public?
- Would you rather pay only with cash for the rest of your life or pay only by card, with every purchase shown to your family?
- Would you rather hand your parents your unlocked phone for a month or lock your phone in a drawer for a week?
- Would you rather keep your phone but lose every app except calls and texts or keep every app but use your phone only one hour a day?
- Would you rather always feel a little too cold, wherever you are or always feel a little too warm, wherever you are?
- Would you rather have every shirt you own be a little too long or have every pair of pants you own be a little too short?
- Would you rather keep the same haircut for the rest of your life or never get the same haircut twice?
- Would you rather own only ten pieces of clothing, all of them perfect or own unlimited clothes that are all just okay?
- Would you rather eat your favorite food only once a year or eat your second-favorite food whenever you want?
- Would you rather get a full refund on any purchase you regret or get a warning before you buy anything you will regret?
What makes a would you rather question hard
A hard question is not a scary one. It is a question with no free lunch. In an easy question one answer is obviously better, so the game ends in a second. In a hard one, each option gives you something real and takes something real away, and you have to decide which loss you can live with.
The best hard would you rather questions are balanced. If nearly everyone would pick the same side, the debate never starts, so the questions here trade things of similar weight: money now against money later, a keepsake against convenience, free time against a job you love, a perfect memory against a fresh start.
To argue a question well, start with what you are giving up, not what you are getting. Then ask what would change your mind: if the amount were doubled, or the catch lasted a week instead of a lifetime, would you switch? Another good move is to defend the side you did not pick. It is harder than it sounds, and it teaches more than winning does.
There is no right answer, and that is the point. Two people can choose opposite sides and both reason well, so judge the thinking, not the pick. In a classroom, have students write down their choice and one reason before anyone speaks. For questions about values and who you are, see the deep questions, and for work and money dilemmas, try the questions for adults.
Frequently asked questions
What are hard would you rather questions?
Hard would you rather questions are dilemmas where both choices cost you something, such as money, time, a memory or some comfort, so neither answer is an easy win. They work best when the two options feel evenly matched and you have to explain your pick. This page has 49 of them, clean and ready to play or print.
Do the questions repeat?
No. Each question is shown once, in a shuffled order, until you have been through the whole deck. Skipping counts as seeing a question. After the last one, press Shuffle and play again, or press Restart at any time, for a fresh shuffle from the first question. Nothing you pick is sent anywhere.