Our Format
When coming up with our format, we asked ourselves what we would like to see in a trivia night. We also thought about what a venue might want. This format is what we came up with. It has a diverse format, and includes rounds that are more free flowing to allow team members to get another drink without missing questions.
Sample Game
To really show off the format, it's best to show it in context. To the right is our sample game rounds.
There is a total of 6 rounds, plus a final bonus question and at least one tie breaker question. 4 of them have categories listed next to them.
Because of the nature of Round 3, we don't list the category up front.
Round 1 - Themed Q&A
10 questions, 10 answers, all fitting a specific theme. The sample game theme, It's on "Fire", has the word "fire" in each answer.
Round 2 - Handout
Teams get a handout with 10 pictures on it for them to puzzle out. Though every once in a while, it's something else, like a word scramble or a rebus puzzle.
Round 3 - Common Link
Question 10 is always, "What do the answers to the first 9 questions in this round all have in common?" The 9 questions usually have nothing to do with the category, it's all in the answers.
Round 4 - The List
10 answers, but only 1 to 3 questions. Order doesn't matter, teams get a point for each answer they get correct.
Round 5 - Audio
10 audio tracks all wrapped up in one convenient file. It's usually music, but every so often it's something else.
Round 6 - Random Knowledge
10 questions, 10 answers, no theme. These questions are all over the place, ranging from literature to sports to pop culture... and everything in between.
Final Question
1 question, 1 answer. Harder than the rest, but still fair. This round has teams wager points and can cause a shift right at the end.
Tie Breaker
Usually just one question with a numerical answer. If any teams are tied, this can give a team the win based on whoever is closer. If the question asks for a year, we'll throw in another question in case teams guess the same year.
Timing Built Into Games
With this format, there are some rounds that are directed by the host, and some that are directed by the game.
Rounds 2 and 4 give your players time to collaborate. These types of rounds break up the monotony of "here's 10 questions" and lets them feel like they aren't missing anything if they need to use the restroom or want to go up to the bar to get another drink.
Having the Handout round early gives teams some scratch paper to take notes on for the Common Link and The List rounds. It also gives the host time to get all the scores into our automated spreadsheet.
PowerPoint files
Each of our games comes with a PowerPoint file that has all the questions and answers in a format that's easy to read for your venue.
The PowerPoint is there to supplement the host. For most question rounds, it can alleviate spelling concerns with foreign words and names. For The List and Handout rounds, it can leave the questions up on the screen for the entire round. For the Audio round, it can keep the category and what is being asked on the screen.
But the biggest reason is accessibility. Players that are hard of hearing can participate for most of the rounds this way. Louder teams have less of an impact on the game as well.
Extras
If you're getting the Creator Subscription, you're getting an extra round and a reworked round. The Creator Supplement comes with the Common Link round turned into a Themed Q&A round (with a 10th question) AND a Current Events round. If you're wanting to use our games to be a question database to fit your format, that's the subscription for you.
If you are buying our games in a 1, 3, or 10 pack and not in the subscription, we throw in the Common Link round turned into a Themed Q&A round as well, for the same reason of building up a database of questions.