How to host a trivia night at home
The fastest start is Family Face-Off: pick a ready-made pack, put the board on your TV and play in minutes, with nothing to learn. Rather run a quiz? The kit list, the round format and Auto-Host for Bar Trivia are below.
Free forever for home quizzes - browse the free packs
Family Face-Off: ready in minutes, nothing to learn
Teams guess the most popular answers to a survey question, and you reveal them on the big screen. Pick a ready-made pack, put the board on the TV and play. The scores add up by themselves.
Rather run a quiz? Bar Trivia and the QuizoParty board come with it too.
What you need to host a trivia night at home
Six things. You almost certainly own five of them already, and the sixth is free.
A screen the room can see
A TV you can cast to, a monitor, a projector, or a laptop propped on the coffee table.
Wifi, and your guests' phones
Every phone is a buzzer. Nobody installs anything - they open a link and they're in.
Any speaker (optional)
Needed only for music rounds, so the room can hear the clips.
Questions you didn't write
A free Trivia pack is two rounds of 10 to 20 questions, with a picture round on the big screen.
A prize worth winning
It does not need to cost anything - see prizes and house rules below.
No pens, no paper, no scoring
Answers, timings and the final table are counted automatically. Nothing to mark.
How to host a trivia night at home in three steps
Put the quiz on the TV
Open Quizado on a laptop, tablet or phone and cast it to the TV. A projector, a spare monitor, or just a laptop on the table works exactly the same.
Everyone joins from their phone
Guests point a camera at the code on screen, type a team name and pick a mascot. No app store, no accounts, any phone. Latecomers can join mid-game.
Pick a pack and press play
Choose a free question pack and press play. On Pro, tick Auto-Host in the lobby and sit down with everyone else: it runs to the final scoreboard without you.
Auto-Host runs the quiz.
You get to play.
The worst job at a home trivia night is being the host - reading questions off a phone, marking answers, arguing about spelling. Turn on Auto-Host, part of Pro, and that person joins a team instead.
Runs the clock
Each question goes up on the big screen with a countdown, then locks itself. The room keeps up without a quizmaster.
Keeps every score
Answers, timings, bonuses and the final table - all counted, nothing to mark.
Pauses when you do
Snacks, an argument, a phone that died - hit pause and pick it back up.
A pack, one tap
Twenty questions across a warm-up and a picture round, in about 20 minutes.
A code goes on the TV. Phones are in, teams are named, mascots picked.
Large on the big screen, with a countdown the whole room can see, then answers lock.
Correct answer, who got it, who was fastest. No marking, no disputes.
The leaderboard reshuffles on the big screen between questions.
Round intro, difficulty ramp, and a finale worth double.
A trivia night format that works in a living room
Five rounds, about 50 minutes, one clear winner. Short enough that nobody drifts off to their phone. A pack is two rounds, so stack two or three to build the night below.
Playing with a big group or a wide age range? Swap round 4 for a second everyone-answers round - no buzzer means no advantage to fast thumbs. The full breakdown is in how to play trivia: rules, rounds and scoring.
Free question packs for a home quiz
Not a random question dump. A free Trivia pack is two themed rounds of 10 to 20 questions, with a picture round on the big screen. Twelve packs are free on the Home plan, Family Face-Off and QuizoParty included.
Classics
Warm-Up
Confidential
Toppers
Life
Wonders
Rewind
buster
Three ways to unlock more packs - none cost money
You start with the free library. Do any of these and another full pack lands in your account, permanently.
Follow us on Instagram
Tap follow, tap the button in the app, pack unlocked. We post a question a day and the packs we're writing next.
Follow @quizadoappFollow us on TikTok
Same deal on TikTok. Short rounds you can play on the sofa while you wait for everyone to arrive.
Follow @quizado.comInvite a friend who hosts
Share your link. Every friend who sets up their venue unlocks another pack for you - and one for them, so it isn't a weird favour to ask.
Get your invite linkTrivia house party ideas for every occasion
Family game night
Start on an easy pack so the youngest player stays in it, then move up a difficulty for the finale.
Birthdays & house parties
One screen and the phones in the room. Open with Family Face-Off, then play a quiz round.
Christmas & holidays
Seasonal packs for the afternoon when everyone has eaten too much. Pairs with our Christmas questions.
Dinner parties & big groups
Teams of one or teams of six, one phone per team. The free plan lets 4 phones into a Trivia game to try it; a paid plan fits the whole party. Everyone-answers rounds keep a loud room fair.
Prizes and house rules
The prize matters more than its price. What works at home: the winning team picks the next film, gets out of the washing up, keeps a trophy on their shelf until the next quiz, or chooses the pack you play next time. A bag of something chocolate is fine too.
Three house rules save every argument before it starts:
- Phones face down between rounds. The quiz already runs on their phones, so make looking things up obvious.
- Teams, not individuals. Pairs at minimum - trivia is a conversation, and a solo player who doesn't know an answer just sits there.
- The screen is the referee. Scoring is automatic, so nobody has to defend a marking decision. It is the fastest way to end a spelling dispute.
If you're brand new to running one, start with the rules, rounds and scoring. Coming from a console party game? Games like Jackbox that use your phone covers what changes.
Try it free. Pay only in the month you host.
The Home plan is free, with no card and no trial clock. When the party needs more phones or the premium packs, pick Starter for that month and cancel it anytime.
Everything you need for trivia night in your own home.
Create a free accountNo credit card. Ever.
- Family Face-Off and QuizoParty with the free packs
- Free Bar Trivia starter packs
- Big-screen themes
- Up to 4 player phones per Trivia game, 2 game starts per 24 hours
- Phones as buzzers, no app to install
- Live scoreboard on the big screen
- Picture rounds on the big screen
- Unlock more packs by following or inviting
Running quizzes for a pub, a venue or a company? See the host plans
One event? Pick a plan for that month.
Try it free first. When the date is set, pick a monthly plan for the month of your event and cancel it anytime.
Starter
The premium packs and no player cap, for a party or a private event.
Business
Your own logo, colours and background on the big screen.
Hosting every month? Keep the plan running.
Hosting trivia at home: FAQ
Keep reading
How to play trivia
The rules, the round types and how scoring actually works - including large groups and mixed ages.
Games like Jackbox that use your phone
Compare party games played on phones and a shared screen. Free Bar Trivia lets up to 4 phones play.
Free trivia questions by topic
Thousands of questions and answers to read out, or play straight from the app.