Family Face-Off plays online on every plan, the free Home plan too, and the free survey packs play in full. Premium packs need Starter, and hosting your own survey pack needs Pro. Up to 4 teams play, and a team can be as big as the room allows. You need a laptop for the host panel and a TV or projector for the board.
- Chapter 1
Pick a survey pack
Select New Game, then the Family Face-Off card. Under Packs for you, select a pack: Family Face-Off Starter and Everyday Life are free on every plan. The lobby opens.
- Chapter 2
Split the room into teams
In the lobby, select the pencil next to a team, or Add Team for up to 4 teams. A panel opens over the lobby: type the Team name, pick a Colour, and set the Strikes, the wrong guesses that lose the board (3 is the classic). Then select Save or Add team. Under Settings, keep TV scoring for the classic TV format: one team controls the board, and a struck-out team hands the other team a steal. Big teams are fine, because nobody needs to sign up.
- Chapter 3
Put the board on the big screen
Select Big screen > Open big screen in the top bar and drag the window to your TV or projector. The room sees the survey board, the strikes and the scores. Your control panel stays on the laptop, with every answer already visible to you.
- Chapter 4
Turn phones into buzzers
Select More > Connect a phone and let one player per team scan the QR code. On the phone they tap Buzzer and see a button for each team. No app and no account. Prefer to call it yourself? Skip the phones and select the team that answered first. Each phone can tap Teams to show only its own team's button, so four phones can hold one team each. Buzzers (n) in the top bar lists the phones; select Remove to free a stuck one.
- Chapter 5
Run the face-off
Select Start Game and read the survey question out loud. The first team to tap its button takes control of the board, and the other phones show who got there first. The question stays hidden on the big screen, so a team can buzz in while you read. When you finish, select Show question. Nobody buzzed? Pick the team under Choose who starts.
- Chapter 6
Reveal the survey answers
When the team in control names an answer on the board, select it. The answer flips on the big screen and its points go into the pot. This is the moment the room waits for, so give it a beat.
- Chapter 7
Strikes and the steal
For a wrong guess, select the strike button and the big red X goes up. After the third strike the bar above the board says Steal and the other team gets one guess for the whole pot. Mark their answer if they get it: the round is theirs. If they miss, select Steal failed and the round goes to the team that played the board.
- Chapter 8
Award the round and keep going
When a team clears the board or the steal is decided, the round is awarded by itself. To end it yourself, select Award the Round and pick the winner. The scores update and the big screen shows the award, while the board stays still. Then select Reveal Remaining: the answers nobody found turn over one by one, in place on the board. When the room has read the board, select Next Question, and the next question waits on Choose who starts. Nothing moves on until you select it.
- Chapter 9
Crown the winner
After the last question, when the room has read the board, select Final Standings. To finish early, select End Game in the top bar. The big screen crowns the winner with the final scores, and Play Again starts a rematch with the same teams.
- Chapter 10
Share the recap
Select View Summary to open the game under History, with the Winner, the Final Standings and the Game Stats. Share Result copies a link to the results, so the teams can relive the night in the group chat.
Tips
- Read each question out loud with a pause before the face-off. The race to the buzzer is half the fun.
- Let the team in control confer, but only take the answer from its captain. It keeps the pace up and stops arguments.
- Hold a steal for a few seconds before you mark it. Start the Clock if the stealing team takes too long.
- Pressed the wrong answer or strike? Select Undo in the top bar.
- In a big room, check the board and the sound from the back row before the guests arrive. If the back row cannot read the board, use a bigger screen.
- Under Settings, Face-off rules adds two options: Best answer wins the face-off (a lower answer gives the other team one try to beat it) and Play or pass (the face-off winner plays the board or passes it). Both are off unless you turn them on.
Questions
What are the rules of Family Face-Off?
Every question is a survey question, and the board hides the answers people gave most often. The more people gave an answer, the more points it is worth. Teams score by naming answers that are on the board, and the team with the most points after the last question wins.
How many people can play?
Up to 4 teams, and each team can be as big as you like. Teams answer out loud, so only the buzzers need phones, and they are optional.
Do I need buzzers?
No. Buzzers make the face-off fair in a loud room, but you can pick the team that answered first yourself.
When is there a steal?
With TV scoring and two teams, a team that takes its third strike hands the other team one guess at the pot. With more teams, you pick the winner of the round yourself.
Can I use my own survey questions?
Yes. Build a pack under Library > Mine > Family Face-Off. Writing it is free, and hosting your own pack needs Pro.
How do I split 50 or more people into teams?
Pick the way that fits the event. At a company event, make teams of 5 or 6 before the day and mix the departments. At a dinner, each table is a team. At a casual night, draw names from a hat.
Can more than 4 teams play?
One game takes up to 4 teams, so run a tournament for more. Start a new game for each match, then play the winners in a final. A single-elimination bracket works for 8 to 16 teams. For more teams, play pools of 4 teams and send the best team of each pool to the final. With 3 or 4 teams in one game, Per team, per answer lets every team keep the points it names.
How long should a big Family Face-Off night take?
Plan about 90 minutes and stop there, because the energy drops after that. Take 10 minutes for the welcome, the rules and the teams, an hour for the matches with a 5-minute break halfway, 15 minutes for the final and the last minutes for the winner and the photos. A match takes about 8 to 10 minutes. To keep one short, select End Game after a few questions.
Can the night end with the Speed Round?
Yes. If your pack has Speed Round questions, the team in the lead plays the bonus round after the last board question. Two players answer against the clock, and the points add to the team's score. See Play the Speed Round in Family Face-Off for the steps.
