PubTriviaFrequently asked questions
Answers to the questions venues ask before a first quiz night: how players join, what happens on bad WiFi, how scoring works and what a session costs.
Getting started
- What do I need to run a quiz night?
- A device to host from with a web browser, meaning a laptop, tablet or phone, and something to stand on each table with its QR code on it. A screen for the room is a nice-to-have rather than a requirement: the questions are on every player's phone, so a quiz works in a venue with no TV at all.
- How long does setting up take?
- Minutes. You add your tables, download the QR codes for them and print them, and pick a question pack. The tables and their codes are permanent, so you do that once and every quiz after it starts at picking a pack.
- Do I have to write the questions?
- No. Five packs are included on every plan: General Knowledge, Pop Culture & Entertainment, Music & Audio, Sports, and Food & Drink. You choose how many questions a session uses, so one pack covers several weeks. If you would rather write your own, the pack builder takes multiple-choice and true-or-false questions with your own points and timings.
How players join
- Do players need to download an app?
- No. A player points their phone camera at the code on the table, the browser opens, they type a team name, and they are in. Nothing is installed, no account is created and no email address is asked for.
- What if somebody's phone will not scan the code?
- In team mode it does not matter much: everyone at a table shares one score, so one working phone per table is enough and whoever is holding it answers for all of them. Any modern phone camera reads the code from the app it already opens with, and a card that has been spilled on can be reprinted in a minute.
- What happens if the WiFi drops mid-question?
- A phone that loses its connection reconnects on its own, and when it does the server sends it the current state of the game rather than making the player start again, so it rejoins whatever question is live. If the connection is bad enough that the socket will not come back at all, it falls back to polling and keeps playing. Pub WiFi was assumed to be unreliable when this was built.
- Can a team join late?
- Yes. A team that arrives during the first round scans their table code and joins from the question you are on. They miss the points from the questions already closed, which is what would happen on paper.
Running the quiz
- Who controls when the next question appears?
- You do. The host launches each question, so the gap between them is however long you want it to be and a round waits for the bar rather than the other way round. Once a question is live it runs on its own clock, a three-second read followed by a five to fifteen second answer window, and closes at the end of it.
- How does the scoring work?
- Each question carries its own point value, anywhere from 10 to 1,000. On flat scoring a correct answer is worth all of it, whenever it lands. On time-weighted scoring it decays across the answer window: on a fifteen-second question worth 100, answering straight away is 100, three seconds in is 68, and at the buzzer it is 20. A slow correct answer still beats a wrong one. Both are settings on the session.
- What is the difference between team and individual mode?
- In team mode the leaderboard ranks tables and everybody sitting at a table shares one score, which is how a normal pub quiz works. In individual mode every player is ranked separately. You pick per session.
- Can I run two quizzes at once?
- On Ultimate, yes, up to five sessions can run at the same time across the five host accounts, which is what a venue with two rooms or a group with several sites needs. Pro runs one session at a time.
Afterwards
- Where do the results go?
- Every session is saved in your dashboard history with its final leaderboard and a question-by-question breakdown of what each team answered.
- Somebody is disputing a score from last week. Can I check?
- Yes, that is what the breakdown is for. Open the session in your history and you can see the answer each table gave to each question, and when they gave it.
Plans and billing
- Is it free to try?
- Yes. Every new account gets one free session with all five built-in packs and up to ten tables, and no card is needed to start it. Custom packs and further sessions need a plan.
- Do I pay per player?
- No. The subscription is per month for the venue regardless of how many people turn up, and players never pay anything.
- Can I cancel?
- Yes, from the billing section of your dashboard. It takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for.
Not answered here? The features page goes through what the software does in detail, and support@pub-trivia.app reaches the people who build it.
Still deciding?
The quickest way to answer the rest of it is to run one. The first session is free and needs no card.
Start free, no card neededKeep reading
- FeaturesEvery PubTrivia feature: QR code joining with no app, a live leaderboard, team and individual scoring, five question packs, timers and a big-screen display.
- PricingPubTrivia pricing in your own currency: two plans, one free session to try it, and no card needed to start. What each plan includes and when you outgrow it.
- Solutions by VenueA quiz night in a taproom is not a quiz night in a hotel. How PubTrivia is used in pubs, bars, restaurants, breweries, student unions and charity nights.
- AboutPubTrivia is built by Sonacode Ltd. Who we are, how the quiz night works, and the other apps we build.