How to play the rice purity test with friends (without losing any)

The Rice Purity Test was never meant to be a solo activity. It started as an orientation week icebreaker, a way for a room full of strangers to become a room full of people who know slightly too much about each other. Taking it alone on your phone at 1 AM is fine. Taking it with your friends is the real thing.

But a group round can go from hilarious to awkward fast if nobody sets the rules. So we wrote some. Steal them for your next sleepover, dorm hangout or long car ride.

Before you start: the one golden rule

Everyone shares their score. Nobody has to share their answers.

That's it. That's the rule that keeps the friendship intact. Your number is public. The reasons behind it are yours. If someone wants to explain a tick, great. If they say "no comment," that is a complete sentence and the group moves on. Nobody gets interrogated, nobody gets screenshotted, and nobody gets to scroll through someone else's answers.

Our version of the test helps here: scoring happens entirely on your own device, and your answers never get sent anywhere. Each person takes it on their own phone, then you reveal the numbers together.

Game mode 1: Guess My Score

The classic, and the best one for a group that knows each other well.

1. Everyone takes the test privately and keeps their score hidden.
2. Pick one person to go first. Everyone else writes down a guess for their score.
3. The person reveals their number. Closest guess gets a point.
4. Repeat until everyone has been revealed. Most points wins bragging rights.

The fun part isn't the score. It's finding out that the whole group assumed you'd be a 92 and you're actually a 61, or the other way around. Expect at least one dramatic gasp per round.

Game mode 2: Highest Score Picks

Everyone reveals at the same time, on the count of three. The person with the highest score (the most "pure") gets to pick the movie, the snack run or the playlist for the rest of the night. The lowest score has to do the dishes. It's the only time in history a high score has been a real advantage.

Game mode 3: Category Showdown

Our 2026 test splits questions into categories like Academic Crimes, Digital Chaos, Financial Mistakes and Sleep & Survival. Instead of comparing total scores, compare categories. Who is the group's biggest Academic Criminal? Who has the most Digital Chaos? Hand out titles. Make them official. Bring them up for the rest of the year.

Game mode 4: Then and Now

This one works best with friends you've known for a while. Take the test together on the first week of the semester, write the scores down somewhere safe (a note in the group chat works), and retake it together at the end of the year. Then compare. It is genuinely funny to watch a group of "Certified Angels" slowly become "Average Gen Z" over two semesters.

House rules that keep it fun

• Read the room. The test works best with people who are already comfortable with each other. Brand-new acquaintances might want the score reveal only.
• No pressure to play. If someone wants to sit out and be the scorekeeper, that's a valid role. A good scorekeeper is underrated.
• No judging the number. A high score isn't boring and a low score isn't scandalous. It's a joke checklist, not a character reference.
• What's said in the round stays in the round. Funny stories are for the people who were there, not for the group chat with 40 people in it.
• Laugh with, not at. If someone looks uncomfortable, change the subject. The goal is to have fun together.

After the game

Once the scores are out, look up everyone's persona on our score meanings page and read them out loud. Then, if the energy is still high, run the group through our Are You the Red Flag? quiz. Nothing settles an argument like an official result. For the full breakdown of what each score really means (spoiler: nothing), check out what your purity score actually says about you.

Ready? Grab your friends, pick a game mode and hit the button below. Someone's about to find out they're a lot less pure than everyone thought.