How to host a trivia night with a live leaderboard (free)

A pub quizmaster we spoke to was spending half the night collecting answer sheets and tallying scores by hand while the room got restless. Moving to phones killed the dead time: answers score themselves, the leaderboard updates instantly, and the speed bonus means teams can't just copy the table next door.

What makes a trivia night actually fun to run

1. Build your rounds as a set of timed quiz questions - multiple choice scores fastest and keeps the pace up.
2. Turn on the speed bonus so quick correct answers score higher. It rewards knowing it cold and adds real tension.
3. Players join with a fun team name by QR or PIN - no app, no account, so even the least techy table is in within seconds.
4. Show the leaderboard between rounds. The shuffle at the top is half the entertainment.

A round, then the leaderboard

Here's a round from a Thursday-night pub quiz run by a quizmaster called Erin. A timed multiple-choice question goes up; teams answer on their phones; the speed bonus rewards the table that knew it cold:

Between rounds, the leaderboard goes up on the big screen - and the shuffle at the top is half the entertainment:

"The groan when a team drops a place - that's the night running itself," Erin said. "I used to spend half of it adding up paper. Now I just host."

No more scoring arguments

Automatic scoring ends the two classic disputes: "we said that" and "you counted wrong". The correct answer and the points are on the screen, the same for everyone. You get to host instead of marking sheets - and the night moves.

The fun of a quiz is in the reveal and the leaderboard climb - not in waiting ten minutes while someone adds up paper.

It's the Kahoot-style experience without the per-host pricing - here's the honest comparison with Kahoot. Or grab a ready quiz format from the templates and swap in your own questions.

Full walkthrough in how to make a quiz. Compare Kahoot.