Question cards: physical decks vs apps
Question cards are simple: draw a card, read the question out loud, and see where the answer takes you. Card games like We're Not Really Strangers and TableTopics made the format popular. Apps like Judge Machine put the same idea on your phone. Here's how the two compare, and when each one makes sense.
Yes, we make Judge Machine. For the physical decks we stick to what their makers publish: price, number of cards and who they're for.
At a glance
| Physical deck | Question card app (Judge Machine) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | About $25 per deck (We're Not Really Strangers: $25) | One deck is free. Every deck for $39.99 once, or weekly or yearly |
| Questions | 135–170 cards per deck | 1000+ across 17 decks |
| New questions | Buy another deck | New decks are added to Premium automatically |
| Languages | One language per deck | 14 languages |
| Occasions | One theme per deck: couples, family or icebreakers | Date night, friends, family and groups in one app |
| Carrying it | A box in your bag | Your phone |
| How it feels | Real cards in hand, no screens | One phone passed around the table |
When a physical deck is the better choice
- As a gift. A box is something you can wrap and hand over.
- A phone-free night. If the whole point is no screens on the table, cards win.
- The ritual. Shuffling and drawing a real card has a feel of its own.
When an app makes more sense
- It's always with you. In the car, at dinner, on a trip: there's no box to remember, because the deck is on your phone.
- One app for every kind of night. Switch from a date-night deck to a family deck in a second. With physical cards, that's two or three boxes.
- Everyone plays in their own language. A deck is printed in one language. Judge Machine comes in 14, so mixed groups don't have to translate on the fly.
- It keeps growing. 1000+ questions today, and new decks arrive without buying another box.
- Better value. For less than the price of two decks, lifetime access unlocks every deck, including the ones we add later.
How Judge Machine works
Pick a deck, put the phone in the middle and take turns reading the questions out loud. There's nothing to set up and no score to keep. A few of the 17 decks:
- Dilemma: both options are bad and you still have to pick
- Partner: the thing neither of you brings up
- Movie: the film you will defend against the whole table
- Trust: the question you have not asked in months
…and 13 more, each with its own mood. Here are some of the questions you'll find:
Would you tell the truth if it could hurt someone?
Does your trust decrease if you feel like an option?
Which decision would you undo?
FAQ
Are question cards worth it?
If small talk keeps winning, yes. A good question does the hard part: it gives everyone a reason to share something real. Whether you pick a box or an app mostly depends on where you play and who you play with.
Is there an official We're Not Really Strangers app?
As of September 2026 we couldn't find one; We're Not Really Strangers is sold as a physical card game. If you want the same kind of conversation on your phone, Judge Machine is a question card app with decks for couples, friends, family and groups.
Can a group that speaks different languages play together?
With Judge Machine, yes. It comes in 14 languages: English, Turkish, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
