How to host a trivia night
Everything you need to run a good trivia night at a bar, club or office: how to plan the rounds, how to score fairly, and how to put it on a TV while teams answer on their phones.
Plan the night
A good trivia night is planned backwards from the room. Decide how long it runs, then fit the rounds to that. Most bars and clubs run about 90 minutes including a break.
- Pick the format. Aim for 4 or 5 rounds of 10 questions, with a break. Teams of two to six work best.
- Choose rounds with variety. Mix general knowledge, a music or film round and one topical round. Put the easiest questions first so every team scores early.
- Pick a scoring rule. One point per right answer. The scoring section below has the rest.
- Run it on the TV. Show the question on the screen, teams answer on their phones by scanning a QR code, the app does the rest.
Rounds and questions
Four or five rounds of ten questions is the usual length. That is 40 to 50 questions, with about 20 seconds per multiple-choice question. Announce the topic of each round before it starts, so teams know when to send their strongest player.
Mix difficulty inside every round: three easy, five medium, two hard. If every question is hard, quieter teams stop playing. Keep a spare tiebreaker that asks for a number, such as a year. The nearest guess wins.
Do not write all of it yourself. Start from a free pack with the answers on the page, print it, or play it as is. The packs below each hold a ready quiz, and the full question hub has more.
- Seasons
Christmas trivia questions and answers
40 free Christmas trivia questions with answers, in 5 rounds: movies, songs, traditions, food and a mixed bag. Print them for your bar trivia night or play them on the TV in one click.
40 questions · 5 roundsOpen pack - Seasons
New Year's trivia questions and answers
50 free New Year's trivia questions with answers, in 5 rounds: traditions, celebrations around the world, history, pop culture and food and drink. Print them for your party or play them on the TV in one click.
50 questions · 5 roundsOpen pack - Trivia night rounds
Bar trivia questions and answers
50 free bar trivia questions with answers, in 5 rounds of 10: general knowledge, geography, science, history and entertainment. Built for a weekly host. Print them or play them on the TV in one click.
50 questions · 5 roundsOpen pack
Scoring that stays fair
Keep scoring simple enough to explain in one sentence: one point per right answer, added up after each round. A bonus or a double-points round is fine only if you can say it in one breath.
Read the answer and its fact out loud after the round, when every team has put its choices in. A short story behind the answer settles disputes faster than a rule book. Make one ruling per dispute and move on.
On paper, one sheet per team and one line per round works, with a second person checking the total. On a screen, the app adds the points for you and shows the scoreboard after each round.
Run it on a TV with phones
Put the quiz on the venue's TV or a projector. Teams scan a QR code on the screen and answer in their phone's browser. They install nothing and sign up for nothing.
- Open Quizlamp on the laptop that feeds the TV, and pick or build a quiz.
- Start the session. The TV shows the question, the timer and a QR code.
- Teams scan the code and join. Check that every table has signal before you start.
- Advance question by question. The timer runs itself and the scoreboard adds up.
What it costs
Quizlamp is free for up to 25 devices per quiz. A Pass at $7.14 runs one night with 100 devices. The Host plan is $17.85 a month for weekly hosts. All prices include VAT; see pricing. Comparing tools? Read Quizlamp vs KwizzBit and Quizlamp vs Quizado.