How to Play

Introduction

Sophistry is the Game Of Half-Truths where cheating is the only rule! It's filled with quotes from famous speeches, events, stories and films, but these quotes use clever logical fallacies to mislead you. To win the game, you need to quickly catch the fallacies that your friends use on you, while speaking your own fallacies without getting caught.

What are Logical Fallacies?

Logical fallacies are pseudological arguments. They are ways of thinking and speaking that feel true or truthy, but if you take the time to think about them, you will see that they are not logically valid.

Follow our tutorial to learn more about logical fallacies.

The Educational Benefits of Sophistry

Sophistry is a great way to learn about logical fallacies:

  • It's fast-paced and trains you to quickly recognize fallacies,
  • It uses real famous quotes that have fooled many people in the past,
  • It makes learning fun!

Basic Gameplay

The object of Sophistry is to read quotes, and identify the logical fallacies that they contain. There are three different gameplay modes.

Three Different Gaming Modes

  • Solo Mode Video Preview

    Solo Practice

    Solo mode allows you to play alone and practice. Quotes are chosen randomly, and you must identify the fallacy.

  • Multiplayer Mode Video Preview

    Multiplayer

    Multiplayer mode allows you to play against others. You take turns where each player gets to read a quote, and the other players must identify the fallacy. The first player to correctly identify the fallacy receives one point. If none of the players identify the fallacy, the speaker receives three points. Multiplayer mode requires that each player connect to the game through their own smartphone or device.

  • Arena Mode Video Preview

    Arena

    Arena play is great for public events, classes and training workshops. Players join into teams (3-5 players per team is best) and each team must have a leader. The team leader is the person who uses their smart phone or other device to enter the team's answers.

    Arena play allows large numbers of people to play, and it is great for beginners because they can discuss with others before answering.

    Arena play is extra-fun when there is a host to facilitate the game, and a projector or screen where quotes can be displayed, but these things are not required.

Awesome Advanced Features

  • Play-By-Play Screen Video Preview

    Play-By-Play Screens

    Play-By-Play screens allow you to broadcast the action of a Sophistry game on a TV screen or projector.

FAQ

  • Do I need to install any apps to play Sophistry?

    No. Sophistry is web-based. You just visit the website, start a game and play. Other players also join your game simply by visiting the website.

  • Do I need to create a user account to play Sophistry?

    No. You can play without even creating an account. But if you choose to create one, your past game stats will be saved. You can create a user account here

  • Is there a paid or premium version?

    No. Sophistry is 100% free. We offer it to help everyone learn and improve their critical thinking skills. If you wish to support us, we accept donations to help fund our web hosting.

  • Can I add a quote or fallacy to your database?

    If you have found an example of a famous, fallacious quote, you can submit it using our submission form here. Please respect our editorial guidelines described in the question below. If you are a fallacy aficionado and you want to help us build our game database over the long term, then please contact us to apply for access as an editor.

  • What standards or guidelines do you use when choosing quotes?

    We have a few editorial guidelines that we follow:
    • Quotes must be famous: they must have been said by a notable person or be from a widely known work of fiction,
    • they must be verifiable from a reputable source,
    • they must be given precisely as the source originally spoke or wrote them: we do not accept paraphrasings,
    • they must be short enough to fit on our cards,
    • the quote must contain sufficient information to recognize the fallacy: if some other obscure knowledge is needed to recognize the fallacy, then we cannot accept the quote.

  • How can I join your editorial team?

    Send us an email. We will interview you and give you editorial access if you fit well on our team.

  • Do you provide any other resources for teaching about the logical fallacies?

    Yes. Our whole database of quotes and fallacies is available here. You can find many examples of famous fallacious quotes, and you can even download image files of all the cards to use in your own teaching. All of these materials are shared under a Creative Commons license that allows you to use, modify and redistribute them in any way that you wish. We also offer a logical fallacies tutorial here.

  • Is there a physical version of Sophistry for sale with real cards?

    No. Sophistry would not work as a real game with actual cards. We currently have about 80 logical fallacies in the game database. But to keep the game fun and playable, it limits you to 4 fallacies every time you start a new game. This means that every time you launch a new game, the Sophistry engine builds a custom deck of fallacy and quote cards just for you. Doing this process manually with cards would be long and tedious, so a physical version of Sophistry is not feasible.

  • Do you sell physical versions of the cards for novelty purposes?

    We don't currently sell them but we are thinking about it. If you are interested in buying Sophistry cards, then send us an email and we will see what we can do.