How to Play Jackanory
Jackanory is a playground bluffing and storytelling game in which one player spins a yarn, true or invented, and the rest of the group decides whether to believe them or cry foul. It rewards quick thinking, straight-faced delivery, and a sharp nose for nonsense.
It is most commonly played in school playgrounds, at parties, and on long car journeys, needing no equipment whatsoever. The combination of performance and deduction keeps players of mixed ages genuinely engaged, which is why it has remained a staple of informal group play across generations.
A little history
The name Jackanory comes from the long-running BBC children's television programme of the same name, broadcast from 1965 to 1996, in which celebrities read stories to camera. The phrase itself derives from an old nursery rhyme, and the word became British playground slang for an implausible or fabricated story. The structured bluffing game played under this name grew organically from that slang usage; its precise origins as a codified game are unclear, and no single inventor or publication date is documented.
Setting up
- Gather at least 4 players and sit or stand so everyone can see and hear the active storyteller.
- Agree on a winning score before play begins. Ten points is a common target for a quick game; twenty points suits a longer session.
- Decide who goes first. Any method is fine: youngest player, whoever most recently told a lie, or a simple count of three.
How to play
- The active player, called the Storyteller, announces a short story or claim about themselves or the world. It must be specific enough to be believable or challengeable. Vague statements such as 'something happened once' are not allowed.
- The story should take no longer than about sixty seconds to tell. Other players may not interrupt during the telling.
- Once the Storyteller finishes, each other player simultaneously declares either 'True' or 'Jackanory' (meaning they think it is a lie). A show of hands or a count of three with thumbs up or down works well. Declarations must be simultaneous so that no player is influenced by another's choice.
- The Storyteller then reveals the truth: was the story genuine or invented?
- Scoring: if the story was true, every player who declared 'True' scores one point. Every player who declared 'Jackanory' scores nothing. If the story was invented (a Jackanory), every player who declared 'Jackanory' scores one point. The Storyteller scores one point for each player who was fooled, meaning each player who declared 'True' when the story was false.
- The role of Storyteller passes clockwise after each round, so every player tells one story per full rotation.
- Play continues until one player reaches the agreed winning score. If two or more players reach that score in the same round, those players each tell one more story in a sudden-death round. Sudden death continues until one player leads at the end of a full sudden-death rotation.
Winning and scoring
The first player to reach the agreed target score wins. Ten points suits a short game of around fifteen minutes; twenty points is better for a group that wants a longer session. In the event of a tie at the end of any round in which the target is reached, a sudden-death rotation is played among the tied players only, with each telling one further story. The player with the highest score after that rotation wins. If still tied, another sudden-death rotation is played until the tie is broken.
The fine points
The most common dispute concerns whether a story is 'specific enough'. The standard ruling is that any claim that can in principle be verified or falsified is valid. If the Storyteller cannot actually confirm or deny the truth of their own story at the moment of reveal, the story is void and that turn is replayed with a fresh story, with no points awarded. A Storyteller who admits they cannot remember whether something happened scores nothing regardless.
A second common dispute arises when players feel a story is technically true but deliberately misleading in emphasis. The standard ruling is straightforward: if the core claim is true, it counts as true, even if the framing was embellished. Embellishment is part of the game. The only question at reveal is whether the central stated fact is accurate. Players who change their declaration after hearing others but before the reveal should have their original declaration counted; a designated referee or the honour system usually covers this in casual play.
How to win more often
- Mix true stories with false ones at an unpredictable ratio. Players who always lie or always tell the truth become easy to read after a few rounds.
- Choose true stories that sound implausible. Outlandish truths are far more powerful than polished fibs because they create genuine doubt.
- Watch the room before you declare. A storyteller who is visibly suppressing a smile or avoiding eye contact is often bluffing, though experienced players will use this deliberately.
- Keep invented stories simple and internally consistent. Complex lies introduce details that can unravel or that you will struggle to defend if questioned in later conversation.
- Vary your delivery. If you always adopt the same tone when lying, regular opponents will spot the pattern within a few games.
Variations
Team Jackanory
Players split into two equal teams. A storyteller from the active team tells a story, and only the opposing team votes on whether it is true or false. Points are scored in the same way but accumulate to the team total. Teams alternate sending up a storyteller each round. First team to the agreed target wins. This version works particularly well with larger groups of eight or more.
Category Jackanory
Before each storyteller's turn, the group nominates a category such as school, holidays, food, or sport. The storyteller's claim must relate to that category. This variant is useful with younger players because it reduces the blank-page pressure of inventing a story from nothing, and it keeps the subject matter consistent enough for the group to judge plausibility more easily.
Three-Story Jackanory
Each storyteller tells three short claims in sequence, exactly two of which are true and one of which is false. Players must identify which single story is the lie rather than voting true or false on each. A player who correctly identifies the lie scores two points. The storyteller scores one point for each player who names the wrong story as the lie. This variant rewards subtler bluffing because the storyteller must make all three stories plausible.
Elimination Jackanory
Instead of a points target, any player who is fooled three times in total is eliminated from the voting panel but remains to hear the stories. The last player still in the game with fewer than three foolings wins. Storytellers who are eliminated from voting still take their turn to tell a story, competing only to fool whoever remains. This variant suits groups who enjoy a knockout format and tends to produce shorter, sharper games.
Jackanory: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum number of players for Jackanory?
Four is the practical minimum. With three players the voting pool is too small to make bluffing worthwhile, as a single vote swing decides everything. Four players gives just enough spread to make both the telling and the guessing interesting.
Does the storyteller have to tell a story about themselves?
No. Stories can be about the storyteller, about a third party, or a general claim about the world. The only requirement is that the storyteller genuinely knows whether the story is true or false and can confirm it at the reveal.
What happens if the storyteller cannot prove their story is true?
If the truth of the story cannot be confirmed or denied at the point of reveal, the turn is declared void, no points are scored, and the storyteller must tell a fresh story. This rule prevents unprovable claims being used as a loophole.
Can a player change their vote after declaring?
No. Declarations are final the moment they are made. The whole game depends on simultaneous, committed declarations, so any change is simply disallowed. If a referee is in doubt, the first clear signal a player gave counts.
Is Jackanory suitable for younger children?
It works well from around age six, particularly in the Category variant which gives children a subject area to focus on. Very young children may struggle with the concept of deliberate bluffing, but most children from school age pick it up quickly with one demonstration round.
What target score should we use?
Ten points suits a quick game of roughly fifteen to twenty minutes with four players. Raise the target to fifteen or twenty if you want a longer session or have more players, since a larger group means more voting opportunities per round and scores accumulate faster.
What counts as a valid story? Can a player just state a single fact?
Yes, a single specific stated fact is entirely valid. The story does not need to be a narrative; a claim such as 'I once ate sixteen pancakes in one sitting' is perfectly acceptable. The key word is specific: the claim must be falsifiable in principle.
Can the same story be used twice in a game?
No. Once a story has been told and revealed, its truth value is known to the whole group, so it cannot function as a bluff again. Any story already revealed in the current game is off limits for the remainder of that game.