Hosting guide · Trivia night
How to run a trivia night at work (without hiring anyone)
You don't need a hired host, a PA system or laminated answer sheets. You need a big screen, the phones already in everyone's pockets, and formats that do the entertaining for you. Here's the whole playbook.
Pick formats, not just questions
The classic pub quiz — six rounds of ten questions, swap sheets to mark — dies in an office. It's slow, it rewards the same three know-it-alls, and everyone else checks their phone. What holds a mixed room is format variety:
| Format | Why it beats a quiz round |
|---|---|
| Knockout ladder | Everyone plays every question until they're out — no coasting, no runaway winner until the end |
| Survey battle | No right answers to know — you're guessing what people said, so nobody's "bad at it" |
| Specialist subjects | Four volunteers, their chosen topics — instant theatre, and the audience plays along |
| Money chain | Banking decisions create drama a static score never does |
| Bingo | Runs itself in the background while people eat and talk |
The 60-minute run-of-show
| Time | Segment |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | Doors + ambient bingo while people settle (cards mark themselves) |
| 0:10 | Survey battle, two teams — gets the noise going |
| 0:30 | Specialist-subject buzzer round with four volunteers |
| 0:45 | Whole-room knockout ladder to crown the night's champion |
Equipment: the whole list
- A screen — the meeting-room TV or a projector, plus one HDMI cable.
- A laptop or phone for whoever's hosting — the console runs every reveal with a tap.
- Everyone else's phones — players scan a QR from the big screen and they're in. No app, no accounts, no IT ticket, and mobile data is enough if the venue Wi-Fi is grim.
Hosting tips from a hundred rooms
- Rehearse once, free. Run the exact show to an empty room (or your team of three) first — the free tier exists for this. Nerves come from the unknown, not the crowd.
- Questions about your company beat questions about capitals. The AI question writer turns "our 2026 highlights" into rounds in seconds; in-jokes out-perform general knowledge every time.
- Keep score visible, keep rounds short. The big screen carries state so you never read scores aloud; no segment should pass 20 minutes.
- End on a prize with a reveal. A spun-up winner reveal or badge draw closes the night better than "thanks for coming."
Give the room a show
Nine games, one big screen, every phone in the room. 5 games a month free — no app, no accounts.
Run your first game free See the games