Make a host-run trivia game for parties, pubs and classrooms

How a host-run game flows

1. Set-up screen. The host enters team names and picks which rounds to play.
2. Round title. A full-screen card with the round name and the number of questions, giving teams a moment to settle.
3. Questions. One at a time, large enough to read from the back of the room, with a countdown bar. Teams write answers on paper.
4. Answer reveal. At the end of the round, step through the questions again showing the answers, so the room can groan together.
5. Scoring. The host enters each team's points for the round, with quick +1 and −1 buttons.
6. Scoreboard. A leaderboard between rounds, ideally animated, with the final round worth double if you like a comeback.

The host's controls

Running a quiz with a mouse is clumsy. Ask for keyboard controls (space or the right arrow to advance, P to pause the timer, R to reveal, S for the scoreboard) and show a small key legend that can be hidden. A presenter clicker sends the same keys as arrow presses, so a wireless clicker can drive the whole night. Also ask for a way to go back one step, because someone will always need to see the last question again.

Keep the scoreboard editable at any time. Disputes happen, and the host needs to fix a score without restarting a round.

Question formats worth mixing

Standard

Question and answer, the backbone of every round.

Multiple choice

Good for harder questions and for younger players.

Picture round

Visuals drawn in code: flags, simple shapes, silhouettes, colour swatches. The sandbox can't load photos from the web.

Music round

Short tunes synthesised with the Web Audio API work for melodies; recorded songs can't be loaded.

Closest wins

A numeric question where the nearest team scores, useful as a tie-breaker.

Connections

Four answers that share a hidden link, worth a bonus point.

A common pub quiz shape is six to eight rounds of ten questions, with a break midway. For a classroom, three short rounds of five fits a lesson.

Describing it to Anticode

Include your rounds and questions if you've written them, which is the surest way to get accurate answers: "A trivia game for a pub quiz night on a TV. Team set-up, six rounds of ten questions (I'll paste them), 45-second timer per question, answer reveal at the end of each round, host enters scores, animated scoreboard between rounds, final round double points. Keyboard controls for a clicker. Bold, readable from across the room."

If you ask for questions to be drafted on a theme, check every answer before the night. The model can write good trivia quickly, but one wrong answer read aloud to a room is remembered longer than forty right ones. The game is written as one app that runs in the browser, so it works on the laptop without an internet connection once it's loaded. The game state, such as scores and the current round, can be saved in the browser so a refresh mid-quiz doesn't lose the night.

Why there are no phone buzzers

Game-show style apps where every team answers on their own phone need the phones and the host screen to talk to each other through a server. Anticode apps run in a sandbox with no network, so each device is on its own: there's no way for a player's phone to buzz in on the host's screen, and no live leaderboard on players' phones. This is the same reason there's no online multiplayer in Anticode's games.

Workarounds that suit a room well: paper answer sheets (still the pub standard), a team holding up a coloured card for multiple choice, or physical buzzers. If remote players and phone answering are essential, a dedicated live quiz platform is the right tool.

Other limits

• No video clips or recorded audio, since outside media can't be loaded.
• No question bank from the web; the questions are yours or drafted for you.
• Questions and answers are inside the page code, so don't share the game's link with players before the night.

Questions people ask

Can I reuse the trivia game maker output for another quiz night?

Yes. Ask for new rounds in words, or ask for an editor screen where the host pastes in a new set of questions before the night.

Will it work on a projector?

Yes. It's a web page, so any laptop browser in full-screen mode on a projector or TV works. Ask for large type and high contrast.

Can players see the scores on their phones?

Not live. Players' phones can't connect to the host's screen, so the scoreboard is shown on the main screen between rounds.