We all like a good magic trick. That's why the virtual tarot website Peter Answers is so much fun. Somehow, no matter what question you ask Peter, he always has the right answer.

Of course, it's simply an illusion. If you want to know how Peter Answers works, and how to use Peter Answers to trick your friends and family, you've come to the right place.

What Is Peter Answers?

peter answers

Peter Answers (sometimes called Ask Peter) is a simple website. It calls itself a virtual tarot. While a tarot reader is usually someone who uses cards to tell the future, Peter Answers is different. Supposedly, you can ask any question and Peter will give you the answer.

You probably came across the website after someone showed it to you. You pose a question, your companion types it in, and lo and behold it displays a suitable response.

If you want to change the language of Peter Answers, click the three horizontal lines in the top-left, select Language, then make your choice.

The website has two fields. The first is a petition, the second is a question. If the website's instructions are to be believed, the petition must read:

Peter please answer the following question

The second field is for your question. You could ask something you already know the answer to—your favorite food or animal—or you could ask something speculative, like whether you'll have any luck next year.

Once you type a question mark or click Send, Peter will then display an answer.

peter answers posing question

Chances are, with your companion in control, Peter displays a suitable response. But if you try it yourself, you'll get a vague response such as "the stars are not in line for this request" or "you must have a deeper desire to learn the answer to this question."

Why isn't Peter playing ball? How do you get Peter to behave and give a proper answer? Here's how the Peter Answers trick works.

What Is the Peter Answers Trick?

Sadly, Peter Answers can't read your mind or see the future. So how does Peter Answers work? Well, you have to type in the answer you want Peter to give.

To do this, enter a period into the petition field. Then, type the answer you want. Whatever you type, the field will display "Peter please answer the following question."

When you've finished typing the answer, enter another period. You can use as many periods as necessary to get the full petition text to display.

For example, let's say the question I want to ask is "Will I ever find love?"

In the petition field, I could type something like ".No, you will never find love, except in your dreams." to have that displayed as my answer. Note the two periods on either side of the sentence, which are essential to process the trick, but they won't show in the actual answer.

peter answers correct answer

Move to the question field and type your question. Once submitted, you will then see the answer you typed earlier displayed. To ask another question, click the plus icon.

Obviously, you can't play this trick on yourself! Instead, use it to fool others. It works especially well if you're a quick typist and the other person doesn't watch your keyboard. If your friend enjoys astrology and horoscope apps, they're likely to fall for Peter Answers. Of course, after a while, your companion might cotton on, so it's good to have a lineup of victims to trick.

Use the Peter Answers App for Android

The Peter Answers website is optimized for mobile, so it works just fine if you want to pull it up on your phone's web browser.

For the committed, there's an Android app. It's free, supported by adverts at the bottom, and works in entirely the same way. Simply type a period into the petition to disguise your answer.

You can swipe from the left to reveal a menu, from where you get basic options: How to play, Share, and Rate this app. In fact, the How to play page doesn't tell you the secrets of Peter Answers at all. So if you do forget what you need to do, refer to this article.

Currently, there's no official app for iOS. In the past, there was a knock-off Peter Answers app for iOS, but it's no longer available. That said, it might crop up again in the future.

Download: Peter Answers for Android (Free)

Build Your Own Peter Answers

If you want to take a peek behind the scenes, or perhaps take a shot at building your own version of Peter Answers, take a look at this GitHub project (Github is a way to share and collaborate on code).

Peter Answers is written in CSS to provide the styling and JavaScript for the magic. It's a relatively simple bit of code, so if you have programming experience, then you can use this GitHub project to tweak it to your heart's content.

Perhaps you want to change the petition phrase? Or add some new responses for Peter? With this source code, you can do exactly that.

Other Services Like Peter Answers

You might also stumble across Ask Jud, which is basically the same as Peter Answers, but under a different name. However, if you have a particularly gullible companion, you could use this to trick them twice the same way.

akinator

For something a bit different, check out Akinator. This is a genie that can guess anyone you're thinking of: real or fictional. It does this by going through a series of questions and using the previous answers to work out who the person is.

If you want some other ways to while away the time, we've covered loads of fun websites to cure boredom.

Use Peter Answers to Prank Your Friends and Family

Now you know how Peter Answers works and the trick behind the magic. Go ahead and ask Peter anything! Be sure to use it to trick people and make them think that this virtual tarot can read someone's mind. Then perhaps direct them to this article to let them in on the secret.

The internet is full of pranks that you can play on friends and family. Just make sure to keep them light-hearted, since the best pranks are ones that everyone can laugh at afterwards.