How to Play TVivia
TVivia is a live trivia game show that runs on one shared screen, like a TV, laptop or bar display, while everyone plays on their own phone. There's no app to install and no account to create. This guide covers everything from starting your first game to how points, lie-writing and tie-breakers work.
What you need
- One shared screen that everyone can see, running a web browser. This can be a smart TV's built-in browser, a laptop or desktop, or a laptop connected to a TV with an HDMI cable. Streaming sticks with a browser work too.
- A phone for each player or team. Any modern smartphone browser works, including Safari, Chrome, Samsung Internet and Firefox.
- An internet connection for the host screen and the phones. Phones can use Wi-Fi or cellular data, and they don't need to be on the same network as the TV.
- Optional: speakers for the sound effects and the announcer voice.
Hosting a game
- On the shared screen, go to tvivia.com and choose Host on this screen. A lobby appears with a 6-character room code and a QR code.
- Pick a preset or open ⚙ Settings to choose the number of rounds, time per question, difficulty, categories and scoring. The presets are Quick Game, Prime Time, Bar Night, Fandom Night and Bluff Party.
- Wait for players to appear in the lobby as they join. You can remove a player by selecting the ✕ on their name.
- Press Start Game. From there TVivia runs the show automatically: it announces rounds, shows questions, runs the clock, reveals answers and updates the scoreboard.
The host screen has small controls in the top bar to pause (Space), skip ahead (N or →), go fullscreen (F) or end the game and return to the lobby. The room code and a small QR code stay in the corner during the game so latecomers can still join, if late joining is turned on.
Joining a game
- Scan the QR code on the TV with your phone's camera, or open tvivia.com and type the 6-character code.
- Enter a display name, up to 14 characters, and pick an avatar.
- Tap Join Game. Your name pops onto the TV and your phone becomes your controller.
If your phone locks or you accidentally close the page, open the same link again and you'll be put back in the game with your score intact. Room codes never use look-alike characters such as 0/O or 1/I/L, so they're easy to read from across a room.
Classic trivia
A classic game is made of rounds, and each round has a set number of multiple-choice questions.
- Choosing the category: depending on the host's settings, players vote on their phones between three categories, a category is picked at random, or each question comes from a different category ("grab bag"). TVivia has 33 categories. The 20 classic ones range from General Knowledge and World History to Science, Sports, Music and the 80s & 90s. The 13 fandom categories include Friends, The Office, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel Movies, Disney and Pixar.
- Answering: each question appears on the TV with four colored answers, each marked with a shape (▲ ◆ ● ■). Your phone shows the same colors and shapes, so you can answer even if you can't read the TV. With "show question on phones" turned on, your phone also shows the full question and answers.
- Locking in: in the default mode, your first tap is final, and the question ends early once everyone has answered. If the host chooses "lock when time's up," you can change your pick until the timer runs out.
- The reveal: after time runs out, the correct answer lights up. The screen shows how many people picked each option, who earned points and, often, a fun fact about the answer.
- Difficulty: questions are rated Easy, Medium or Hard. With the Easy → Hard setting, each round gets harder than the one before.
How scoring works
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| Base points | 100 for an easy question, 200 for medium and 300 for hard. If the host turns off difficulty-based points, every question is worth 100. |
| Speed bonus | Up to +50% for answering quickly. A correct answer in the first second earns close to the full bonus, and it shrinks as the clock runs down. |
| Streak bonus | +10% for each correct answer in a row, up to +50%. One wrong answer resets your streak. Players on a streak of 3 or more get a 🔥 on the scoreboard. |
| Wrong-answer penalty | Off by default. When the host turns it on, a wrong answer costs 25% of the question's value. Not answering never costs points. |
| Double-points finale | The last round counts double, so a trailing player can still come back. |
After each round, and halfway through long rounds, TVivia shows an animated leaderboard. On a big game, the TV lists the top ten and each player's phone shows their own rank.
Bluff Party mode
Bluff Party is a party game about sneaky creativity. Each round shows a strange but true fact with a blank, such as "A group of ferrets is called a ____."
- Write a lie: type a fake answer that sounds believable enough to fool everyone. If your "lie" is actually the real answer, TVivia will ask you to try again.
- Find the truth: all the lies are mixed together with the real answer. Everyone picks the one they think is true. You can't pick your own lie.
- The reveal: the lies are exposed one by one, with who wrote them and who fell for them, and then the truth is revealed.
Scoring: picking the truth earns 1,000 points, and you earn 500 points for every player fooled by your lie. If two players write the same lie, both of them earn the points. With the double-points finale on, the final bluff is worth twice as much. Bluff Party works best with three or more players.
Tie-breakers
If two or more players finish tied for first place, the host's tie-breaker setting decides the champion:
- Closest number: the tied players get a number question, like "In what year was the Statue of Liberty dedicated?", and type a guess. The closest guess wins, and if two guesses are equally close, the faster one wins.
- Sudden death: the tied players answer a hard multiple-choice question, and the fastest correct answer wins. If nobody gets it right, another question follows.
- Share the win: everyone tied for first is crowned co-champion.
Settings at a glance
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Rounds / questions per round | 1–10 rounds, 3–20 questions each |
| Time per question | 5 to 120 seconds |
| Difficulty | Easy, Medium, Hard, Mixed, or Easy → Hard |
| Categories | Players vote, random, or grab bag; switch any of the 33 categories on or off |
| Who controls the game | Host and a 👑 VIP phone (the first player to join), or host only |
| Answer lock-in | On tap, or when time's up |
| Show options | Automatic or manual advance, reveal time, question on phones, fun facts, announcer voice, sound effects, late joining |
Frequently asked questions
Do players need to download an app?
No. TVivia runs entirely in the web browser on both the TV and the phones.
How many people can play?
TVivia is designed for anything from a family of three to a full bar of up to about 100 players. Teams can also share one phone.
Can I play with just two people?
Yes. Classic trivia works with any number of players, even one person practicing. Bluff Party is more fun with three or more.
What if my smart TV's browser is hard to use?
Open TVivia on a laptop and connect it to the TV with an HDMI cable, or share the laptop's screen to the TV. The game automatically resizes to fit the screen.
Does TVivia cost anything?
No. TVivia is free and supported by a small ad bar at the bottom of the screen.
I think an answer is wrong. What should I do?
Please tell us at support@giftmwah.com with the question text. We review every report.