So you want to host a trivia game on Zoom? Well, before you invite family, friends, or coworkers to participate, you need to know how to host the game so it's a success.
Fortunately, it's easy to set everything up to have a stellar time. There are only seven steps you need to take to prep and play.
And if you're looking for more trivia game options, check out these 20 Trivia Games for Zoom.
First things first. You need to create an account on Zoom and download the app on your web browser. This step is the simplest one to implement—the only thing you'll need to consider is which plan to use.
The basic plan allows up to 100 participants. However, it limits meetings to 40 minutes each, so if your activity will last awhile and you want to play uninterrupted, you may need to sign up for a paid plan.
Once you've created an account and downloaded the app, you need to make your trivia game official and put it on everyone's calendar. You'll want to start this by opening the app and pressing the "home" button in the top menu bar.
When the new page appears, click "schedule" and then input all the details about your event, including the title, date, and duration. Also, make sure to indicate which calendar you want to save your invite to—that way, you have it on your radar. Afterward, press "save."
Once that's complete, it's time to invite the people on your guest list!
To do this, click "meetings" in the top menu bar. From there, you can copy the invitation and email it to the people you want to invite. Or, if you saved the invite to your Google calendar, you can access the event there and insert your guests' email addresses to invite them.
Now, for the fun part. It's time to create your virtual trivia game! There are two ways you can approach this step.
The first option is to make one from scratch using PowerPoint.
This route will require you to pick a theme, create fun questions, and determine how many rounds you want to include. Unless you feel like researching unique questions that excite your attendees, this task can be hard, which is why you may prefer the other option: using a trivia tool like Slides With Friends.
Slides With Friends allows you to access ready-to-play trivia games with popular themes and pre-made questions.
Each game looks like a PowerPoint slide deck, but they're interactive and include quirky features like word clouds, image sharing, polls, and more.
You can personalize our decks as much or as little as you want. Our zoom trivia activities also allow participants to submit answers via their mobile devices, so you don't have to worry about collecting responses. Additionally, our games keep score for you and name the winner, another factor you don't have to worry about while playing.
If you want to make your trivia game a group activity, you can create teams and allow them to discuss answers in a breakout room on Zoom. This function is free, regardless of the account you have.
To enable breakout rooms, simply log into your account on your web browser, head to the settings page, click the "In Meeting (Advanced)" option, and turn on the feature to allow breakout rooms.
Once you open the Zoom app during your event, click "breakout rooms" in the bottom menu. Then, you can have Zoom choose the teams for you or manually create them yourself. Afterward, you can open the breakout rooms for a set amount of time, giving the teams a chance to gather.
For the first breakout session, have each group brainstorm a name and determine who will submit answers. The latter is especially important if you're using a trivia tool like Slides With Friends because someone on each team will need to use their mobile device to submit their team's responses. After closing the rooms, ask for each team's name and who will be submitting answers.
Check out this demo on how to use Zoom's breakout rooms.
Once the teams have been organized, you'll need to set the tone for the game by explaining the rules and anything else players should know. For example, you may want to walk through the following:
If you're using a trivia tool, it will be easy to provide all of this information because the game description will likely have these insights.
When everyone is clear on what to do and how to play, share your screen so that participants can see the activity. Then, start playing!
After each trivia question, send teams to their breakout rooms to brainstorm their answers. If you want to make sure they don't forget a question, look at the bottom of the breakout rooms page, click "Breakout Message to All," and type the question, which will be sent to each team. Once you close the breakout rooms, have the teams submit their answers.
Remember when we mentioned how easy it is to use a trivia tool? If you're interested in taking that route, there are eight fun, pre-made trivia games by Slides With Friends and other brands you may want to consider.
Have a magical time with Harry Potter Trivia. This Slides With Friends game will reveal who's truly a wizard and worthy of getting accepted into Hogwarts. The questions in this activity span all original seven books.
Here are additional details to know:
Are you inviting a bunch of movie buffs to your event? If so, Huge Movie Trivia Night is the perfect Slides With Friends deck to play! It has four rounds and highlights some of the most popular films, including one of your childhood favorites "Antz" and action-packed movies like "White House Down."
Here are additional details to know:
Maybe you're gathering a group of digital nomads or remote workers that span multiple countries. In that case, play Travel Trivia Happy Hour by Slides With Friends. This game will not only maintain the spirit of wanderlust your participants have, but also uncover who kept note of every fun fact they learned on their adventures.
Here are additional details to know:
Need a fun trivia game that packs a punch in a short amount of time?
Play Who's the Smartest? Mini Game. There are only five questions in this Slides With Friends deck, but don't assume this zoom trivia activity is easy. Each question gets harder as you progress, so while the number of prompts is small, the amount of time participants will need to think may last several minutes.
Here are additional details to know:
For all the animal lovers at your event, Hangout at the Zoo is the perfect activity to play! It has three rounds, and the questions cover everything from elephants and snails to dolphins. After playing, you'll definitely know who can gain full-time employment as a zoologist if there aren't already some among you.
Here are additional details to know:
There's nothing better than a spooky trivia game that you can play around Halloween time. Packed with two rounds of frighteningly fun questions, Halloween Trivia! is a quirky activity your participants will love as they sip their fall-themed drinks and wander into the worlds of Dracula, Frankenstein, and more.
Here are additional details to know:
Trivia Crack is an addicting game that has six categories: geography, history, art, sports, science, and entertainment.
It's great if you want to test your participants' general knowledge to see who knows the most fun facts! Also, players have 30 seconds to answer each question, so the time crunch can make this game intensely fun.
Here are additional details to know:
Family Feud is a classic, household favorite game that you can play online on Arkadium. Similar to the popular TV show, this zoom activity has hundreds of challenging, fun survey questions.
Arkadium will also create a computer-generated competitor, allowing you and your guests to work together to answer "Survey Says!" You all can either shout the answers or type them in the chat on Zoom.
Here are additional details to know:
Knowing how to host a zoom trivia game and having an activity you're ready to play means you can start setting everything up. For even more activities you can use to host your next trivia game on Zoom, check out The 20 Most Popular Online Trivia Games for Zoom. Then send an invite to your guests and get yourself ready to host the best trivia game on Zoom your attendees have ever joined.
