How to run a quiz night people come back for
A good quiz night is mostly planning: the right length, a mix of rounds, questions that are fair, and a few minutes of setting up before anyone arrives. Here is what works.
Get the length right
Most quiz nights run for about two hours including breaks. Six to eight rounds of eight to ten questions fills that comfortably, with a break in the middle for the bar or the raffle. Fewer, better questions beat a long night where teams drift off.
Mix up the rounds
Variety keeps every table in it. Alternate general knowledge with picture rounds, music or emoji puzzles, a true-or-false round to speed things up, and a put-in-order round to finish. JoltQuiz has seven question types, so every one of those is a round type, not a paper handout.
A short game between rounds resets the room. JoltQuiz has six mini games for it: Ten Seconds, Green Light, Hold Your Nerve, Pass the Bomb, Tug of War and Buzzers.
Write questions that work
- One clear answer. If you can argue for two, rewrite it.
- Check every answer against a reliable source, and note it.
- Start each round easy and finish hard, so nobody scores nothing.
- Keep wording short: people read it on a screen and on their phones.
- Avoid questions that go out of date - "the current" anything.
Writing them in a spreadsheet keeps them tidy and lets you reuse a round later. The CSV guide shows the format and includes a prompt for ChatGPT.
Decide the scoring before you start
Say up front how points work, and stick to it. A point per right answer is the classic; faster answers scoring more raises the energy. JoltQuiz has four scoring modes - flat, speed, speed-rank and closest-wins - and double points on a round with one setting.
Plan a tie-break before you need one. A number question - closest wins - settles it fairly in one go.
Before the doors open
- Test the screen, the sound and the wifi where the teams will sit.
- Open the room early so people can join while they get drinks; show the QR code on the big screen.
- Have the rules on screen: team size, phones, no looking things up.
- Know what the prizes are and how you will hand them out.
Running it on the night
Keep it moving. Read each question once, give a fair time, then lock and reveal. Do the leaderboard after each round, not after every question. Save the top three for the end - a reveal is half the fun.
With JoltQuiz the marking and adding up are done for you, so you can spend the night on the microphone instead of the calculator.
What it costs
Your first quiz is free, for up to 20 players, with no card needed. After that, Standard is £22.99 a month for up to 75 players a quiz, and Quiz Master is £49.99 a month for up to 1,000. Both are monthly and you can cancel any time.
Questions
How many questions should a quiz night have?
For a two-hour night, six to eight rounds of eight to ten questions, with a break in the middle.
How do you settle a tie in a quiz?
Use a number question where the closest answer wins. It decides it in one question.
How long should each question take?
Around twenty to thirty seconds for most questions, longer for pictures and put-in-order rounds.
Can I run a quiz night without answer sheets?
Yes. With JoltQuiz, teams answer on their phones and the scores add themselves up.
Your next quiz, sorted
No app for your players to download, ever. Your first quiz is free, no card needed.