Make a pub quiz that plays like a TV quiz show

1. 1Create a party. Give it a name, choose the screen language (English, Dutch, French or German) and pick one of five styles with an accent colour.
2. 2Plan your rounds. Three to five rounds of five to eight questions fill an evening nicely. Give every round a theme: the guests of honour, photos, music, general knowledge and a final round.
3. 3Write the questions. Type them in, start from a template, paste a list from Word or Excel, or let the AI interview help you (more on that below).
4. 4Add photos and music. Use a photo question, a photo that appears at the big reveal, a short audio clip you upload, or a song you play yourself while the screen counts down.
5. 5Rehearse. Practice mode adds three automatic practice teams, so you can click through the whole quiz from your phone and hear every sound before the guests arrive.
6. 6Unlock and play. Connect the laptop to the TV, open the big screen and let the teams scan the QR code. You run the show from your phone.

💡 Put an interlude screen between rounds, such as “Round 3: the music round!”. It gives you a moment to breathe and the room a moment to refill their glasses.

A pub quiz for friends works best when everyone has a chance, not just the trivia fan in the corner. Mix the question types:

• •Multiple choice: quick and accessible, good for warming up the room.
• •Open questions: teams type their answer and PubquizTV checks it automatically against the right answer.
• •Estimate questions: “How many kilometres did Sanne cycle last summer?” The closest team wins, so nobody needs to know the exact number.
• •Guess the guests of honour: the birthday girl or the couple answers live on stage, and teams score if they predicted the answer.
• •Photo questions and photo reveals: baby photos, holiday snaps, a close-up of something everyone knows.
• •Music questions: upload a short clip or play the song yourself on Spotify or YouTube while the screen counts down.

End with a final round that counts for a little extra drama: the drumroll, the standings and then the podium with fanfare and confetti. Our guide to hosting a party quiz has more on timing and pacing.

Writing twenty good questions takes time. PubquizTV gives you three shortcuts, and you can combine them:

• •Templates: start from a set of questions for a birthday, wedding, anniversary, farewell or family party and make them your own.
• •Paste a list: already have questions in Word, Excel or a note on your phone? Paste them in one go. Lines with A) B) C) become multiple choice, “Answer: …” becomes an open question and a number becomes an estimate.
• •AI interview: answer a few questions about the guests of honour and get a complete quiz. It only uses the facts you give it and never makes anything up, so the questions are personal and correct.

Everything stays editable. Rewrite a question, swap the order or add a photo whenever you like.

The best questions are the ones only your guests can answer. For a birthday quiz that means the guest of honour's embarrassing teenage hobby; for a family quiz it is the old holiday photos; at work, a company quiz mixes the team's in-jokes with questions anybody can answer. Add co-hosts, so a sibling or colleague can write questions and upload photos too, even from another city.

On the night you need a laptop connected to the TV or a projector, internet, sound and one phone per team. Guests do not install an app and do not create an account.

You can make the whole pub quiz for free and test it with up to 3 teams; the big screen then shows a “DEMO” mark. When you are ready for the real party, you unlock it for a one-off €59: 90 days of access and up to 30 teams. Need more time? Add 30 days for €19. There is no subscription.

Thinking of buying a ready-made pub quiz instead? That gets you someone else's questions. With PubquizTV the quiz is about your people, and it comes with the screen, the sounds and the podium. Read more on the pricing page.