Truth Is...

[this text contains spoilers about the game]

Truth Is... is a videogame that has the player write a piece of news about an upcoming heavy storm. The interaction is simple: the game provides the beginning of a paragraph and the player chooses, out of a handful of options, how to continue it: Do they stick to a precise and neutral account, or do they opt for a lurid and sometimes blatantly false account – or something in between? Instead of simply clicking on their preferred alternative, they have to type out its text to the letter. As the game unfolds, the fact-based options will become longer and more difficult to type out, while the more dramatic ones will often be quick and easy to write, and usually more fun.

The game intends to let the player experience firsthand the stark contrast between the constant and often arduous mental effort required to stick to facts and neutrality on the one hand, and the perpetual temptation of taking shortcuts – and getting swept up in what we wanted to believe all along.

Truth Is... was developed at the Truth, Lies & Democracy Game Jam in the context of the European Capital of Democracy 2024.