FORMATS
Three ways to run a quiz night
Every quiz in The Party Quiz is built in one of three formats. They share the TV screen, the phones and the scoreboard — and each one plays completely differently in the room.
Free to create · no app for your guests · no card
Which format should I pick?
Pick the board if you want a game show: categories, climbing values, buzzers and a bit of chaos. Pick the pub quiz if you want rounds read out, answers written down and a proper marking break. Pick quickfire if you want everyone answering at once, on their own phone, with a result in seconds.
The format is chosen when you create a quiz and stays with it, so each quiz is tuned for one kind of evening. Building a second quiz in another format takes a few minutes.
The three formats
The formats side by side
| The board | Pub quiz | Quickfire | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feels like | A TV game show | A pub quiz night | A live multiple-choice quiz |
| How people answer | Out loud, after buzzing in | Written down, on paper or phones | Tapping one of four options |
| Who marks it | You award or dock points | You mark ✓, ½ or ✗ per team | It marks itself |
| Size | 1–4 boards of 5 × 5, plus a tie-breaker | 1–10 rounds of 5–15 questions | 1–6 rounds of 5–25 questions |
| Typical length | 45–60 minutes | 90–120 minutes | 10–20 minutes |
| Players | 2–8 teams, or up to 24 solo | 2–8 teams | 2–8 teams, or up to 24 solo |
| Phones needed? | Optional — buzzers | Optional — paper works | Yes — it's answered on phones |
Round and question counts are what the new-quiz wizard offers; the editor lets a pub-quiz round grow to 40 questions.
Questions about formats
Can I mix formats in one quiz?
Not in one quiz: the format is set when you create it, and the editor offers rounds of that kind. Most hosts who want variety build two short quizzes — a quickfire warm-up, then the main event — and switch between them on the night. Each quiz has its own room code, so guests rejoin with the new one and scores start again.
Which format works best without phones?
The pub quiz. Print the answer sheets from the host screen and it runs entirely on paper, with you marking each team's answers. The board also works without phones if you let people shout or raise hands.
Which format is best for a big group?
Quickfire and the pub quiz. In quickfire everyone answers at once and a team's score is its players' average, so team sizes don't matter. The board is at its best with two to four teams racing for the buzzer.
Do all formats work in every language?
Yes. All three show your questions in the language you wrote them in, and the TV and phones follow the quiz's language in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish or Portuguese.
Try one tonight
Every format has a playable demo, and building your own is free.
Free to create · no app for your guests · no card