How to take the Rice Purity Test with friends
The test was built for groups. Done well, it is funny. Done badly, it gets awkward fast.
The classic O-Week format
One Rice alumnus recalled his O-Week advisor reading the items out loud while everyone kept their own score, with people sharing at the end if they wanted to[1]. That format works anywhere:
- Open group mode on one screen and pick a reader.
- Everyone starts at 100 in their head or on their phone.
- The reader goes through all 100. No comments on who reacts to what.
- At the end, anyone who wants to says their number. Put it in the scoreboard for a group average.
The other way
Everyone takes it on their own phone at the same time, then compares. Faster, more private, and each person gets a breakdown by section and a share card.
House rules
- Opt in, not out. Ask who wants to play. A 2012 Thresher editor wrote that making it compulsory is simply bad advising[2].
- Sharing is optional. "I'll keep mine" ends the conversation.
- No detective work. Do not work backward from a score to guess who did what, and do not bring it up later. One student told the Thresher that scores became "targeting information" for later games[1].
- No ranking people. High or low, nobody wins.
- Not a to-do list. Will Rice's O-Week coordinators warned new students against treating it as a checklist[1].
Good groups for it
Close friends, roommates, people who have chosen to be there. Workplaces and family dinners are not.
Ready? Take the Rice Purity Test. Your answers never leave your device.