Would you rather questions only an Indian group will fight about

Why "fly or be invisible" never starts an argument

Most would-you-rather lists are full of superpowers, millions and talking animals. They are fine, but nobody really cares about the answer, because nobody will ever have to choose. The questions that start a real argument are small and specific: things the people in the room do every week and have strong feelings about.

That is why the desi version works so well. Every Indian group already has fixed, passionate positions on rice and roti, on train berths, on which relative is the hardest to sit next to. A dilemma built from those takes three seconds to understand and three minutes to settle. Below are the ones that have split real rooms, grouped by topic, and at the end a formula for writing your own.

Food fights

Would you rather give up rice or roti for a year? Eat only your mother's cooking for the rest of your life, or never eat it again? Have Maggi every day, or never again? Drink chai with no sugar forever, or coffee with far too much?

Would you rather have biryani with no potato, or biryani that is mostly potato? Get mango season every month but only the cheapest variety, or your favourite mango for one week a year? Eat at every wedding buffet standing up, or sit down at every wedding with only salad? Lose the ability to taste spice, or the ability to stop eating it?

Would you rather have pani puri with no tangy water, or chole bhature with no chole? Only eat food from your own state, or never eat it again? Be the person who always brings the dessert, or the person who always gets the last piece? These are where the room splits by region, which is half the fun.

Family and festivals

Would you rather have every relative know your salary, or your Class 10 marks? Host Diwali for forty people, or attend six Diwali parties in one night? Be the cousin who is always asked when they will get married, or the one who is always asked what exactly they do for a living?

Would you rather sit next to the uncle who explains politics, or the aunty who explains your life? Wear an outfit you hate that everyone loves, or an outfit you love that everyone criticises? Have your family WhatsApp group read every message you send, or have it send every forward to your friends? Be in charge of the playlist at every family function, or in charge of the seating plan?

Would you rather be woken at six by the pressure cooker, or at six by the doorbell for the milk? Never be allowed to leave a family function before the last guest, or always be the first to be sent home? These work for a family room as well as friends, because every generation has a side.

Trains, traffic and travel

Would you rather sit in city traffic for an hour each way every day, or take an overnight sleeper train every weekend? Always get a last-minute ticket, but in the middle berth, or book four months ahead and always get the lower? Travel with family who pack for a month, or friends who never plan anything?

Would you rather have an auto driver who refuses every time, or one who agrees and then takes the long way? Spend twelve hours on a train with a crying baby, or with an uncle who wants to know your whole life story? Get every holiday you want but always with your parents, or half the holidays with your friends? Be the person who always carries the snacks, or the person who always knows the way?

Bollywood and cricket

Would you rather have every conversation you have scored by a Bollywood background song, or narrated by a cricket commentator? Dance like a film hero but only at weddings, or sing like a playback singer but only in the shower? Watch a three-hour film with no interval, or a two-hour film with three intervals?

Would you rather win a World Cup final on a no-ball nobody noticed, or lose it on a fair catch? Have a film made about your life starring an actor you dislike, or have no film at all? Live inside your favourite film for a week, as an extra? Be able to remember every dialogue ever written, or never forget a cricket score? The World Cup one is the best question in this whole post: watch who answers instantly.

How to write your own

A good would-you-rather has two options that both cost something, and the best ones split the room close to half and half. If everyone picks the same side, the question was not a dilemma. The quick test is to try it on two people before the party: if they disagree immediately, it is a good one.

Three things make one stronger. Make it specific: "eat only your mother's cooking" beats "eat only one food". Make it about the room: a question about traffic in your own city beats one about a city nobody lives in. And attach a cost to something people love, rather than offering two good things or two bad ones in the abstract.

Playing it so everyone votes at once

Read aloud, would-you-rather has a problem: the first person to answer sets the room, and everyone after them either agrees or argues with them. Would You Rather on PartyDen has everyone vote on their phones at the same time and then shows the split, so you see the real answer before the argument starts. Being in the majority earns a small bonus. There is a Desi Family pack, and you can type your own dilemmas in before you start — one per line, written as "Eat only rice or only roti" — which is where the ones from this post belong.

Groups that love this usually love Think Alike too, where you score for giving the same answer as most of the room. Most Likely To is the same instant vote, pointed at each other, and Wavelength is the argument about where an answer sits on a scale. The plain would you rather questions list has more, sorted by who you are playing with.