Kickass Game Night ~ Trivia Edition
One of the first things you will learn about me is that I love games. Like we are talking ANY games! Board, lawn, bar, card, dice, Q/A...literally name it and most likely I’ve played it. So naturally, as an experience designer, I find a way to work a gaming element into many of my events. A game night is not only a fun, low-maintenance, inexpensive way to bring your friends together, it’s a powerful connection tool for your teams at work. Like anything though, there is a right and wrong way to execute it. For the 1st installment of “Kick-ass Game Night” I will be going through my steps of setting up the perfect Trivia night.
Expert Tip: These steps are for an IRL event. Feel more than welcome to adapt them to a virtual experience, however, I don’t believe that any IRL event should be “copy and pasted” to virtual. They are two totally different experiences and need to be planned as such.
Create the Comms
1. Decide on a date. Pick a date for your trivia night that’s at least a month out. You want enough time to plan, others to have ample notice and to start building anticipation around your event. “Hyping” your experience makes it feel legit, intentional and gives you a better chance of an amazing turnout.
2. Create a sign-up form. I use Google Forms for this. Here’s an example of one of my trivia sign-ups.
3. Create an announcement. Using a messaging tool (I love to use Slack) craft your first announcement of the game night. Make sure it’s up-beat and attention grabbing, so it can cut through the noise of a busy channel.
Include the following elements in your message:
A little info, but not too much. Just enough to pique curiosity.
Date and time.
Embedded link to sign-up form.
The date the sign-up form closes.
Personality! I know you got it in you!
Expert Tip: if you’re wondering how I got that fun, “Sign Up Today!” font in the example...check out this site - EmojiText 😉
4. Schedule Reminder messages. Post reminder messages at least once a week leading up to your event. Then the week of, send a daily message. Something small but exciting. The more you remind people, the more excitement you will stir up. Make sure to keep all message in the same channel. There should only ever be one place where people look for updates.
Create the Teams
Now you’re probably thinking...”Why am I creating these teams? These are adults, they can make their own teams, right?” Sure they could. This is not a prescription by any means. It’s your game night, conduct as you see fit! However, you did come here for advice…Creating the teams helps for a few reasons:
Smooth start to the night: Teams are already formed, you can group them at tables during your set-up time and get right down to business when they come in.
No running away with the game: If you make the teams you can ensure they are well-balanced. That way you don’t have one team of trivia wizards coming in and running away with the game. That’s no fun, right?
Cross-connection opportunity: It’s human nature to come into a large event and gravitate to the people you’re most comfortable with. However, if one of the purposes of your game night is for your teams to meet new people, randomly selecting the members on the team forces them out of their comfort zone in a non-aggressive way.
You’re the host, HOST!: People like to be guided, especially at work events. This is your opportunity to take ownership of your game night and set expectations. Besides, I guarantee if you leave it up to people to create their own teams, you will spend the first 20 mins awkwardly assigning them anyway. You’re the host, don’t be afraid to be assertive. People will appreciate and thank you for it.
How to Create the Teams
I’m sure there are a ton of ways to do this, but here’s mine.
Assuming you used the google forms survey as a sign-up, export the list of responses you collected to google sheets.
Once you export you will see the name and the score they gave themselves for their “Trivia Prowess.”
Go down the list putting together teams according to their trivia prowess score. You are looking to create even teams, with an equal distribution of skill - for example: If you have 40 people sign-up you could to create 5 teams of 8:
2 people who have 1 ratings
2 people with 2 ratings
2 people with 3 ratings
1 person with 4 rating
1 person with 5 rating
Expert Tip: I like to use Canva to create fun team rosters. I post a pic with my comms, or print them to include on the tables at game night. Let’s everyone know where they're sitting and makes the set-up thoughtful and intentional.
Create the Game
Okay, you have comms out, responses are rolling in, you’ve created teams...time to make the game!
You might not have time to build a trivia game from scratch. I mean who does? I’ve done that before, it’s hard and time-consuming. That’s why for my first trivia night I leaned on the structure of a board game - work smarter, not harder, people!
The game is called Pub Trivia and you can get it on Amazon for $20. This game is built for large groups, so it’s perfect for work events. For the most part you can follow the game directions for how to lead it.
Here’s some things I had in place to host:
The Pub Trivia game has 5 different categories. I pre-selected a card from each category. Since you use every question on a card for a round, this created 5 unique rounds for your game.
Expert tip: Get picky about the cards you select. Read through a bunch of them and find a card that has some really good questions.
The game also comes with answer sheets which you will need to distribute to each team. They will need one for each round.
Have a large whiteboard at the front of the room to openly keep score. Visuals are necessary, especially for those competitive folks.
Set-up in advance. They should have everything they need when they come in.
Go over the rules of the game & answer sheet. Don’t just jump right in. If you use the pub trivia game the answer sheets need a little explanation so you can avoid hold-ups during game-play.
When you get to the drawing portion of the round (it’s the last question.) I gave them 1 minute to complete it. It helps keep things moving. Expert Tip: Buy a large game clock for the front of the room. Remember VISUALS!
Tips to Being a Kick-Ass Host!
Okay! We’ve done all the technical and logistical stuff to ensure you’re set-up for success. It’s time to host a kick-ass game night!
Now... everyone has their own hosting style and this is not something that can be taught. I encourage you to invoke your inner game show host and give them personality. Make fun of them, joke around, fill the awkward silences. If you’re hosting this I know you’ve got this in you somewhere.
If the prospect of hosting is still a bit anxiety inducing, here are my top 11 nuggets of advice to boost your confidence and make sure your game night goes off without a hitch.
Present yourself as a REAL host from the second they walk in!
a. Have music playing. Loudly when they first start to come in and then turn it down slightly, but not off, for game play. Expert Tip: I used a Game show themes playlist for one night. That was well received.
b. Welcome them. Once everyone sits, warmly welcome them. This sets the tone for the evening and solidifies your role as host.
c. Pick a great vantage point. You should be set-up in the front of the room, preferably with a podium or at least a clipboard, so you can ask the questions without revealing the answers on the back. You should be easily seen and heard by all teams. (Clipboards also make anyone look like they're in charge. 😆)
d. Use a mic. Obviously, only for big groups or large rooms.
Create the teams yourself! Repeating myself but it’s important, trust me! Not only is it great for the reasons I stated earlier, it establishes your role as a host from jump street.
Create a great game night environment. You should have a designated, and if possible, very roomy area to host your game. You should have separate tables for each team that are at least a couple feet apart. You want your teams to feel comfortable conversing about answers without the fear of being eavesdropped on.
Have any necessary materials set-up. For this game you should have the following on each table when people walk-in:
a. The printed team list (If you choose to do so - I encourage it!)
b. Proper amount of answer sheets from the Pub Trivia game or any other game you choose to use.
c. Pens or Pencils.
Make sure you take breaks. After the answers are read for the round, if necessary, take a 3-5min break. This will give people an opportunity to get another beverage or use the restroom without feeling like they are missing anything. This also gives you a second to regroup.
Food & Drink are important. It’s a classy move to arrange for pizza or “snacky foods” and beverages, both Alcoholic & N/A, for your participants. So if you have the budget for it, it’s a great way to level up your event.
Have teams create a team name. Communicate this task prior to the event. It not only saves time when you start, but it creates another opportunity for team members to connect before the game.
Have a tie-breaker ready. In case of a tie or just a fun bonus round, it’s best to be prepared. Expert tip: If you are doing this for a work event, make the tie-breaker a difficult company history question.
Read all the answers out loud after each round. After the teams hand in their answer sheet, score each sheet out loud. Some of the answers can be really funny and will help to make everyone feel more comfortable as the game goes on. (Also this is where you can really show your personality as a host.)
Try to keep your game to 90mins. I found that when I had a lot of people sign-up (50+) 5 rounds took about 2 hours. Even though this game is fun, 2 hours can be a lot. You could play around with it, but 3 full rounds and a 4th speed round worked really well and kept the game under 90 mins. Sometimes less is more.
Have prizes for all the members of the winning team. Let them know in the beginning of the game that there are prizes for the winning team but don’t tell them what they are. This gives everyone incentive to play hard and take it seriously. Expert Tip: I did one trivia night where I got an oversized gift bag. The winning team members came up one by one and picked a prize out of the bag without looking. Most of the prizes were cheap silly stuff, or company swag, but for a couple I taped a $25-$50 amazon gift card to the back. Little elements of surprise and delight go along way.
If you follow this format I can say, very confidently, that you will host the best damn game night your people have ever seen!
Just remember: Whatever happens...THIS IS GAME NIGHT! Have fun with it!
