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Pub quiz round ideas

Thirty round formats beyond general knowledge, with how each is run, how long it takes and the room it suits. The ones worth stealing and the ones that die.

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Rounds that change the shape, not just the subject

A quiz feels varied when the format changes, not when the topic does. Six rounds of multiple-choice questions about six different subjects is still six rounds of the same thing, and a room notices by round four.

These are the formats worth having in rotation. Two or three per night is plenty, a quiz where every round is a gimmick is exhausting.

The list round
One question, ten answers. Name the ten most populous countries, the ten longest-reigning monarchs. Teams get a point per correct answer. Slow, sociable, and the round tables talk through most.
The connections round
Four or five questions whose answers share something, revealed at the end for a bonus. The bonus is what makes it: teams that spot the link early spend the rest of the round smug.
The wipeout round
A wrong answer scores minus one, and teams may pass. Turns a round into a nerve test and produces the biggest swings of the night. Use it once, near the end.
The picture round
Handed out or on the screen, answered at leisure during the break. The classic use of a break, and it stops the fifteen minutes being dead time.
The music round
Intros, lyrics, or artists. Reliably the loudest round in the building. Watch the decade spread, because a round that is all nineties indie loses half the room.
The true or false round
Ten statements. Fast, no options to read out, and surprisingly hard to sweep. Good as a palate cleanser after something heavy.
The nearest wins round
Numerical answers where the closest team takes the points. How many bones in a hand, how long is the Danube. Nobody is ever out of it, which is the point.
The local round
Questions about the town, the pub, the street. The most popular round you will ever run and the only one you have to write yourself. Worth the hour.
The anagram round
Anagrams of a theme: bands, films, footballers. Works on paper or on screen and rewards the table with one person who is good at them.
The A-to-Z round
Every answer starts with the same letter. Trivially easy to write, and the constraint makes ordinary questions feel like a puzzle.
The odd one out round
Four things, one does not belong. Fast to run and it starts arguments, because there is often a defensible second answer.
The before and after round
Two answers sharing a word, a film and a footballer joined at 'Bond'. Takes explaining once and then everyone is fine.
The initials round
'JFK', 'BBC', 'DNA'. Ten seconds each and it moves fast. Good for a bar.
The year round
Three events, name the year. Or one year, name what happened. Splits generations neatly, which is fine as long as the teams are mixed.
The guess the price round
Supermarket items, historic house prices, a pint in 1974. Cheap to write and it gets a reaction every time.
The catchphrase round
Which show, which advert, which politician said it. Ages badly, which means it has to be rewritten, which is why people stop running it.
The emoji round
Films or songs written in emoji. Divisive: under thirty-fives love it and over sixties will not play, so pitch it to the actual room.
The dingbats round
Visual word puzzles. Slow, quiet, and the round that a certain kind of table waits all night for.
The finish the lyric round
Read the line, they finish it. Works best read aloud and works best badly sung.
The in the news round
Ten questions about the last fortnight. Has to be written weekly, which is the cost, but it is the round that makes a quiz feel current.
The map round
Point at a country, a county, a river. Needs a screen and rewards having one.
The alphabet gamble round
Teams pick a letter before the round and score double on answers starting with it. A small mechanic that makes an ordinary round feel like a decision.
The joker round
Teams nominate one round in advance to count double. The cheapest way to keep a struggling table in the game until the end.
The two-minute round
Ten quick questions read back to back against a clock, answers given at the end. Chaotic and brilliant as a closer.
The pot luck round
Deliberately random. An excuse to use the questions that did not fit anywhere else, and a useful safety valve when writing.
The name the sound round
Audio clips: TV themes, animals, engines. Needs decent sound and dies without it, so test it in the actual room first.
The team name round
A bonus point for the best team name, voted on or decided by you. Costs nothing and it is the reason people put effort into their names.
The sweepstake round
Every team predicts the winner before the last round. Keeps eliminated tables interested in the finish.
The head to head
The top two teams stand up for a sudden-death finish. A proper ending to a night, and the only reason people stay to the end of the results.
The wooden spoon round
One round scored in reverse, or a bonus for last place. Softens the bottom of the table and gets a laugh.

Rounds that reliably die

Worth knowing so you do not spend an hour writing one.

Anything requiring long written answers. It slows the room to a crawl and the marking is where errors and arguments come from.

Anything needing specialist knowledge that a whole table might lack: opera, cricket statistics, pre-war cinema. A round that one table sweeps and five score two on is not a round, it is a formality.

Anything depending on hearing a word precisely in a noisy room. If the answer turns on whether you said 'fifteen' or 'fifty', it will be disputed.

Anything that takes more than thirty seconds to explain. If the rules need a diagram, the room has stopped listening before the first question.

How many different formats in one night

Two or three. A standard quiz might be two ordinary rounds, a picture round, a music round, a connections round and a closer: enough variety that no two consecutive rounds feel alike, not so much that the night has no spine.

Keep one or two the same every week. Regulars like knowing the music round is coming, and a quiz with no fixed points is one nobody can get good at.

Build a round of your own

Custom packs take multiple-choice and true-or-false questions with your own points and timings, which covers most of the formats above.

Start free, no card needed

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