How to Run a Trivia Night: 50 Questions and a Scoring Sheet

A good trivia night takes about 90 minutes: 5 rounds of 10 questions, teams of 4 to 6 players, one point per correct answer and a short break after round three. You need a host, an answer sheet per team, a scoring sheet and 50 questions that mix easy and hard. All of that is below, ready to print. For more rounds, our trivia night question bank has hundreds more with answers.

Before the night

1. Pick a theme or go general. General knowledge works for mixed groups. A themed night (Halloween, movies, geography) works when everyone shares the interest.
2. Set the teams. Four to six players per team keeps everyone talking. More than six and quiet players stop answering.
3. Print answer sheets. One sheet per team per round, numbered 1 to 10, with a space for the team name.
4. Test the questions out loud. Read each one to a friend. If it needs explaining, rewrite it.
5. Mix the difficulty. In each round, aim for 4 easy, 4 medium and 2 hard questions so every team scores and the best teams still have to work.

How the night runs

• Read each question twice, then allow about 30 seconds.
• Collect sheets after each round, swap them between teams to mark, then read the answers. Swapping makes marking fast and fair.
• Announce the scores after every round. A running leaderboard keeps energy up.
• Joker round: let each team pick one round, before it starts, to score double points.
• Tiebreaker: ask a number question and the closest answer wins (one is at the end of the list).

The 50 questions

Round 1: Geography

1. What is the largest ocean on Earth? The Pacific Ocean
2. Which country has the most people? India
3. What is the capital of Australia? Canberra
4. Which river flows through Cairo? The Nile
5. How many continents are there? Seven
6. What is the smallest country in the world? Vatican City
7. What is the largest hot desert in the world? The Sahara
8. Mount Everest sits on the border of Nepal and which other country? China
9. Which country is shaped like a boot? Italy
10. What is the capital of Canada? Ottawa

Round 2: Science and nature

11. Which planet is known as the Red Planet? Mars
12. Which gas do plants take in from the air to make food? Carbon dioxide
13. How many legs does a spider have? Eight
14. What is the hardest natural material? Diamond
15. What is the largest planet in our solar system? Jupiter
16. At what temperature in Celsius does water boil at sea level? 100 °C
17. What is the largest animal that has ever lived? The blue whale
18. How many bones are in the adult human body? 206
19. Which metal is liquid at room temperature? Mercury
20. What do caterpillars turn into? Butterflies or moths

Round 3: History

21. Who was the first person to walk on the Moon? Neil Armstrong
22. In which year did the Titanic sink? 1912
23. Which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing? The Great Pyramid of Giza
24. Who painted the Mona Lisa? Leonardo da Vinci
25. Which country gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States? France
26. Who was the first President of the United States? George Washington
27. Which empire built Machu Picchu? The Inca Empire
28. In which year did the Berlin Wall fall? 1989
29. Which ship carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620? The Mayflower
30. Who was granted the first US patent for the telephone in 1876? Alexander Graham Bell

Round 4: Food and fun

31. Which country does sushi come from? Japan
32. Which fruit is guacamole made from? Avocado
33. How many players does a soccer team have on the field? 11
34. What is the main ingredient in hummus? Chickpeas
35. Which sport uses a shuttlecock? Badminton
36. How many squares are on a chessboard? 64
37. Which nut is marzipan made from? Almonds
38. How many colors are in a rainbow? Seven
39. Which spice comes from the dried threads of a crocus flower? Saffron
40. How many sides does a standard die have? Six

Round 5: Numbers and brain teasers

41. What is 15 times 4? 60
42. How many sides does a hexagon have? Six
43. How many minutes are in a day? 1,440
44. What comes next: 2, 4, 8, 16? 32
45. How many zeros are in one million? Six
46. A farmer has 17 sheep and all but 9 run away. How many are left? Nine
47. What is half of a quarter? One eighth
48. How many days are in a leap year? 366
49. What is the only even prime number? 2
50. You have six apples and take away four. How many apples do you have? Four (the ones you took)

Tiebreaker: How tall is Mount Everest, in meters? 8,849 m (closest answer wins).

The scoring sheet

Copy this table onto a whiteboard or print it, and mark each team’s joker round with a star.

Team	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Joker bonus	Total
Team 1
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Team 5
Team 6

Maximum score: 50 points, plus up to 10 from the joker round.

Make it bigger

• Add a video round. Put a quiz video on the big screen and let teams write answers as it plays. Our general knowledge quiz video has 50 questions in four levels, with a timer built in.
• Pull fresh questions. The random trivia question generator gives you a new question at a tap, handy when a question gets thrown out.
• Go pub quiz style. Our pub quiz questions are written for adult teams, and the general knowledge questions cover every level.

FAQ

How many questions should a trivia night have?

40 to 60. Five rounds of 10 questions fill about 90 minutes with marking and a short break.

How many people should be on a trivia team?

Four to six. Smaller teams lose breadth, and bigger teams leave quieter players out.

How do you score a trivia night?

One point per correct answer, with an optional joker round where a team scores double. Swap answer sheets between teams to mark each round, and use a closest-number tiebreaker.

What makes a good trivia question?

It has one clear answer, can be read out in one breath, and is something a few players will know. Mix easy, medium and hard in every round.