How to play Trivia

What a trivia quiz is

Trivia is a game of general knowledge: a host asks questions, players answer, and the most right answers wins. It is played at home, in classrooms, on game shows and at quiz nights, and the questions can be about anything from capital cities and science to food, sport and words. Most quizzes mix easy and hard questions so that everyone scores something, and the winners are often the players who know a little about a lot.

Playing Trivia on AllFun

AllFun Trivia is a quiz show in your browser with questions written for the game in twelve categories. Quick Round asks ten questions from all of them. Categories lets you master one subject level by level; Daily Trivia gives every player the same ten questions once a day; Survival goes on until you lose three hearts; and Duel sets you against computer rivals on the same ten questions.

Questions come in several kinds: one of four answers, true or false, putting a list in order, naming a flag, or setting a number, where a close answer earns part of the points. For a quiz just about countries, try Flags & Capitals; more are on our puzzle games page.

The rules

A quiz night

• Players form teams, often of four to six, and choose a team name.
• The host reads rounds of about ten questions, often on one theme, such as music, history or a picture round.
• Teams write their answers on a sheet. Phones stay in pockets: looking up an answer is cheating.
• Sheets are swapped or handed in and marked after each round, and the scores are read out.
• A tie is settled with a number question, such as a year or a distance; the closest answer wins.

A timed round on AllFun

Each question has 15 seconds, or 20 to sort a list or set a number. A right answer scores 100, 150 or 200 points by difficulty, and a fast one up to half as much again. Right answers in a row build a streak: ×1.5 from three, ×2 from five and ×3 from eight. A round starts easy and gets harder.

Helpers

Four helpers sit under the answers: 50/50 removes two wrong answers, Skip swaps the question, +10 s adds time and Hint gives a clue. Each is free once a round. Skip is off in the Daily and in duels, so everyone faces the same ten questions.

Stars and badges

Each category has levels of ten questions. Get five right for one star, seven for two and nine for three, and earn a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Mastery badge as you clear the levels.

Six trivia tips

1. Read to the end. A word such as "not", "largest" or "first" changes the answer. Read the whole question before you look at the choices.
2. Remove the wrong answers. Even when you do not know the answer, you can often rule out two choices. A guess between two is a fair chance.
3. Estimate from what you know. For a number question, start from a fact you are sure of and adjust. On AllFun a close answer still scores.
4. Answer when you are sure. Speed is worth up to half the points again, so do not wait out the clock on a question you know.
5. Guard the streak. At ×2 or ×3, a 50/50 on a hard question protects more points than it costs.
6. Learn the classics. Capitals, planets, elements, inventors and famous books come up again and again in every quiz.

Trivia FAQ