Are you at a party that’s just getting a bit, ahem, boring? Well, there’s nothing like a good ’ol game of “truth or dare” to liven things up a bit!
I guarantee it’s gonna smash that ice in no time … BUT how (on earth!) do you play with a room-full of Spanish speakers?
The Spanish version of “truth or dare” is “verdad o reto” (yep, it translates literally) and just as in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries, it’s a wildly popular game here in Mexico!
But does it have different rules?
Well, yes AND no, but fret not because I’m going to explain EXACTLY how to play in Spanish.
Let’s get right to it!
The rules (‘reglas’) of “verdad o reto”
There are obviously A LOT of variations of “verdad o reto” depending on the country / city that you’re in, or even your friendship group!
In Mexico City I’ve found that the most popular version is kinda like a hybrid of “truth or dare” and “spin the bottle”!
To play “verdad o reto” you and your friends need to sit in a circle and place a bottle (‘una botella’) in the middle, either on a table or on the floor. The bottle is used to choose the next victims, ahem, players.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s spin that bottle!
The bottom of the bottle (‘el fondo’) points to the person who’ll ask the question / devise a devious dare, while the neck of the bottle (‘el cuello’) indicates the person who’ll have to answer (or perform!) –
Alan – ¿Verdad o reto, Katia?
Katia – ¡Verdad!
Alan – Katia, truth or dare?
Katia – Truth!
Now, there’s a pretty general rule that if a player chooses ‘verdad’ (or ‘truth’) five times in a row, they HAVE to choose ‘reto’ (or ‘dare’) for the following FIVE turns.
Bad experience alert!! I wasn’t aware of this rule the first time I played and thought that I was cleverly avoiding having to do dares and, well, let me tell you that I came a cropper … not only did I have to do five dares in a row, but I swear my friends actually upped the difficulty a bit because I’d been chickening out!
Of course, you and your friends can make up your own variation and agree on the rules of the game beforehand.
For example, you might agree on whether or not to ask dirty questions and dares (‘preguntas calientes’ or ‘preguntas hot’ in Spanish), or if there are any penalties for skipping a dare; a common penalty would be to drink a shot (‘tomar un caballito’), for example.
Other common rules include never answering a question with a simple ‘sí’ (‘yes’) or ‘no’, and not changing your mind once you’ve heard the actual question or dare (‘no puedes cambiar de opinión’) –
Romina – ¿Qué eliges, Fer? ¿Verdad o reto?
Fer – Mmm…Verdad.
Romina – Va. ¿Alguna vez has puesto el cuerno*?
Fer – Ah, no, mejor hago un reto.
Todos – ¡No, wey! ¡No se vale cambiar!
Romina – What do you choose, Fer? Truth or dare?
Fer – Hmm … truth.
Romina – Okay. Have you ever cheated on a partner?
Fer – Oh, no, I’ll do a dare instead.
Everyone – Nah, dude! You can’t change your mind!
*Erika’s note – ‘poner el cuerno’, ‘poner los cuernos’ or ‘pintar el cuerno’ (all of which loosely translate as ‘to put the horn’ in English) are extremely common euphemisms of ‘being unfaithful’ in several Spanish-speaking countries.
Another phrase which you’re VERY likely to hear when playing “verdad o reto” is ‘te toca’, which means ‘it’s your turn’. So, even if you don’t understand exactly what’s going on, if someone tells you ‘te toca’, well, you know you’re in the hot seat!
Te toca, Samuel…¿verdad o reto?
¡Híjole! Pues, reto…
It’s your turn, Samuel … truth or dare?
Dang, dare I suppose …
And if you’re not sure who’s turn it is you can say, ‘¿A quién le toca?’ or ‘¿A quién le va?’ –
Se me fue la onda…¿a quién le toca?
A ti*, wey, jaja.
I wasn’t concentrating … who’s turn is it?
It’s yours, dude, haha.
Erika’s note – you need to respond to ‘¿a quién le toca’? with ‘a ti’ or ‘a mí’ (i.e., ‘a + prepositional pronoun); DON’T SAY ‘es mio’ or ‘es tuyo’ (which are the literal translations of ‘it’s mine’ or ‘it’s yours’) as you would in English.
Now let’s take a look at some common truths and dares for you to try!
Common ‘truth’ questions in Spanish
¿Qué es lo peor que has hecho en el trabajo? = What’s the worst thing you’ve done at work?
¿Alguna vez te has tirado un pedo y culpado a otra persona? = Have you ever farted and blamed someone else?
¿Te has ido de pinta del trabajo o la escuela? = Have you ever skipped school or work?
¿Cuál es el rumor más extraño que has escuchado sobre ti? = What’s the weirdest rumor you’ve heard about yourself?
¿Cuál es tu más grande fetiche? = What’s your biggest fetish?
Common ‘dares’ in Spanish
Deja que otra persona publique una foto de Instagram desde tu perfil. = Let someone else post a photo on your Instagram profile.
Deja que los demás jugadores revisen tus mensajes de WhatsApp durante un minute. = Let the other players read your WhatsApp messages for a full minute.
Muéstranos tus mejores pasos de baile. = Show us your best dance moves.
Toma una cucharada de salsa picante o cómete un chile a mordidas. = Swallow a spoonful of hot sauce or eat a whole spicy pepper (I’ve found this one to be especially common in Mexico, so brace yourself!).
Dale una serenata a la persona que tienes a tu derecha durante un minuto entero. = Serenade the person to your right for a full minute (also popular in Mexico).
Erika’s note – you’re normally going to start dares with the second person singular (i.e., ‘tú’ form) of the imperative mood (‘deja’, ‘toma’ ‘muestra’, etc.), the tense we use when giving orders and instructions.
“Verdad o reto” pronunciation
‘Verdad’ has two syllables:
- ‘Ver’ sounds like ‘behr’
- ‘Dad’ is said like ‘dahd’
‘O’ sounds like ‘oh’; your mouth needs to be wide open (almost as if you were yawning!) in order to produce it correctly.
And ‘reto’ also has two syllables:
- ‘Re’ is said like ‘rreh’
- ‘To’ sounds like ‘toh’
/ behr–dahd oh rreh–toh /
Other games like “verdad o reto”
Verdad o bebida
This means ‘truth or drink’ and, well, it’s perfect for those who love “truth or dare” but wanna drink a shot (‘un caballito’) instead of actually having to bother with dares –
Vamos a jugar verdad o bebida, ¿quieren tomar* shots de tequila?
Let’s play truth or drink. Wanna have shots of tequila?
*Erika’s top tip – ‘tomar’ and ‘beber’ are used interchangeably as synonyms of ‘to drink’, although they do have other connotations depending on context.
La botella
‘La botella’ is the Spanish equivalent of ‘spin the bottle’ and, just like its English counterpart, it’s pretty much an excuse to kiss your crush –
¿Quién quiere jugar a la botella?
Who wants to play spin the bottle?
Yo nunca nunca
‘Never have I ever’ is called ‘yo nunca nunca’ (literally ‘I never ever’) in Spanish, and it’s another super popular drinking game.
Yo nunca nunca le he llamado a un ex estado borracho.
Never have I ever drunk-dialed my ex.
Final thoughts
Hopefully you’re now all set to play a spicy game of ‘verdad o reto’ and become the life of the party!
Oh, and if you’re thinking about trying ‘verdad o bebida’ instead, make sure to check out our article on all the different ways to say ‘cheers’ in Spanish; it’s sure to come in handy!
