Real or Rigged

One news card at a time — read the headline and its source, then decide whether the report is legit or rigged.

How to play

Each card shows a headline, blurb, source, byline and dateline. Weigh the tone, the sourcing and the numbers, then call it legit or fabricated. A wrong call reveals the warning signs you missed and your run continues.

• Inspect the source, byline, dateline, tone and any statistics
• Call the card LEGIT (real) or RIGGED (fabricated)
• Correct calls build your streak; misses show the red flags you overlooked
• A real report has no red flags to find — clean sourcing is itself a signal

Game modes

• Daily: one shared deck of cards each day
• Survival: the run ends the instant you make a wrong call

Controls

• Desktop: click LEGIT or RIGGED, or press the Left and Right arrow keys; Enter advances
• Phone & tablet: tap a verdict button or swipe the card left for legit, right for rigged

Tips & strategy

• Distrust anonymous bylines, suspiciously round statistics and urgency or outrage language
• Do not assume calm writing is trustworthy — a fabricated story can read perfectly clean, so check the sourcing

What you'll learn

Real or Rigged trains media literacy by making you spot the markers of fabricated or manipulated content.

• Skills: media literacy, spotting fakes, critical thinking
• Best for: roughly grades 6–12 (ages 11+)
• For parents & teachers: spotting fakes and manipulation.

About Real or Rigged

Real or Rigged is an original free browser game that trains media literacy by making you spot the markers of fabricated news, turning fact-checking into a fast streak-building challenge.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium — no download, no install. Browse all games →