hi, awesome product. I look forward to using it… We are wanting to do something like this for one of our homeschool group meeting in August. So I need to know how many people are needed… I imagine there are five on each team, a “host” person, and a laptop operator?
Please discuss more about what the person operating the computer needs to be able to do…
Hi there, yeah we've played with as few as 6 (3 on each team) or hundreds in a room but 5 up on each side per round.
Here is what I send people in regard to how to play it.
In my opinion, the game actually flows better without using the on screen scoreboard. To me, since it doesn’t add up automatically, and you have to type in there each time, it slows down the pace of the game and is a little distracting. I think it's much better to have someone else keeping score, on a whiteboard or second computer / TV / or projector. That way, whoever is running the computer can just focus on revealing answers. As far as leading the game, I would have at least 3 people helping run it.
1. The person running the computer (this person should have a printed out set of questions and answers so they know which answer to reveal on each question. They will not be able to tell by looking at the screen.
2. The game show host (this person should also have a printed out set of the questions, perhaps in flash card / index card style). This person needs to work the crowd, walk around with the mic, etc. They shouldn’t be running the computer themselves.
3. A person keeping score (this can be done on a whiteboard, in their head, or on a second computer / TV / projector.) It’s best if the host and computer person don’t have to be distracted by keeping score.
As far as points go, there are different ways to play.
1. Like the TV show
In this style, you have two teams. You can either keep track of answer points (teams get points based on the little number next to each correct answer) or round points (teams get 1 point for each round they win). These teams can be teams of people (about 5) sitting up in a row of chairs in the front of the room, or they can be at their own table, or even two sides of the room. If you have a large group and plan to have teams of 5 sitting in a row of chairs at the front, you can rotate out team members each round. For instance, if you have 25 people on each team, you could play 5 rounds with 5 different people per team each round.
To begin play, the first player on each team comes to the podium as a challenger to start the round. They go head to head to try and get the first answer. Once the host reads the question, the challengers try to “buzz in” (the can hit the podium, hit a little bell, or buzzer, or whatever) and guess correctly. If they guess an answer on the board, they can choose to either “pass it” or “play it.”
If they play it, their team must attempt to get all the answers on the board before getting 3 strikes. If they pass it, the other team must do this. If they get 3 strikes before they give all the answers on the board, it is the other team’s chance to steal. All they have to do is get one of the remaining answers with one guess. If they do this, they steal all the point collected by the other team that round (or if you’re keeping track of rounds rather than answer points, they steal the round).
Whoever has the most points (either answer points or round points) wins the game.
2. Large group “back and forth” style
In this style, you have as many teams as you want (I'd recommend 2 to keep it simple), and they can be sitting anywhere (although I’d recommend they’re on their own sides so that they can “confer” with one another. You can use “upfront challengers” like in the TV Show style, to decide who gets to go first. Once a team is selected to go first, they work together to try and get an answer on the board. If they guess correctly, they get the points next to that answer. If they guess wrong, the next team guesses and gets points for their answer. Teams keep taking turns until the board is completely revealed. In this style, the “strikes” don’t really matter, since every time a wrong answer is given, a strike is made. There could be infinite number of strikes in one round. However, in my opinion, once it’s clear that no team is going to get the answer, it would be better to just reveal them.
Again in this style, you could keep score with individual answer points, or just give one point to whichever team wins the round (gets to most questions right, or gets the most answer points in that round).
hi, awesome product. I look forward to using it… We are wanting to do something like this for one of our homeschool group meeting in August. So I need to know how many people are needed… I imagine there are five on each team, a “host” person, and a laptop operator?
Please discuss more about what the person operating the computer needs to be able to do…
Thx!!
Hi there, yeah we've played with as few as 6 (3 on each team) or hundreds in a room but 5 up on each side per round.
Here is what I send people in regard to how to play it.
In my opinion, the game actually flows better without using the on screen scoreboard. To me, since it doesn’t add up automatically, and you have to type in there each time, it slows down the pace of the game and is a little distracting. I think it's much better to have someone else keeping score, on a whiteboard or second computer / TV / or projector. That way, whoever is running the computer can just focus on revealing answers. As far as leading the game, I would have at least 3 people helping run it.
1. The person running the computer (this person should have a printed out set of questions and answers so they know which answer to reveal on each question. They will not be able to tell by looking at the screen.
2. The game show host (this person should also have a printed out set of the questions, perhaps in flash card / index card style). This person needs to work the crowd, walk around with the mic, etc. They shouldn’t be running the computer themselves.
3. A person keeping score (this can be done on a whiteboard, in their head, or on a second computer / TV / projector.) It’s best if the host and computer person don’t have to be distracted by keeping score.
As far as points go, there are different ways to play.
1. Like the TV show
In this style, you have two teams. You can either keep track of answer points (teams get points based on the little number next to each correct answer) or round points (teams get 1 point for each round they win). These teams can be teams of people (about 5) sitting up in a row of chairs in the front of the room, or they can be at their own table, or even two sides of the room. If you have a large group and plan to have teams of 5 sitting in a row of chairs at the front, you can rotate out team members each round. For instance, if you have 25 people on each team, you could play 5 rounds with 5 different people per team each round.
To begin play, the first player on each team comes to the podium as a challenger to start the round. They go head to head to try and get the first answer. Once the host reads the question, the challengers try to “buzz in” (the can hit the podium, hit a little bell, or buzzer, or whatever) and guess correctly. If they guess an answer on the board, they can choose to either “pass it” or “play it.”
If they play it, their team must attempt to get all the answers on the board before getting 3 strikes. If they pass it, the other team must do this. If they get 3 strikes before they give all the answers on the board, it is the other team’s chance to steal. All they have to do is get one of the remaining answers with one guess. If they do this, they steal all the point collected by the other team that round (or if you’re keeping track of rounds rather than answer points, they steal the round).
Whoever has the most points (either answer points or round points) wins the game.
2. Large group “back and forth” style
In this style, you have as many teams as you want (I'd recommend 2 to keep it simple), and they can be sitting anywhere (although I’d recommend they’re on their own sides so that they can “confer” with one another. You can use “upfront challengers” like in the TV Show style, to decide who gets to go first. Once a team is selected to go first, they work together to try and get an answer on the board. If they guess correctly, they get the points next to that answer. If they guess wrong, the next team guesses and gets points for their answer. Teams keep taking turns until the board is completely revealed. In this style, the “strikes” don’t really matter, since every time a wrong answer is given, a strike is made. There could be infinite number of strikes in one round. However, in my opinion, once it’s clear that no team is going to get the answer, it would be better to just reveal them.
Again in this style, you could keep score with individual answer points, or just give one point to whichever team wins the round (gets to most questions right, or gets the most answer points in that round).