How to host a pub quiz with QuizBrothers

Guides

How to host a pub quiz with QuizBrothers

QuizBrothers Pro gets you off paper answer sheets, messy Excel scoring and juggling presentation windows. You prep everything on your Windows PC, put it on a projector, and teams answer on the Android or iOS app.

1. Prepare the quiz

You can build the whole quiz in the app (question types, scoring, hints and explanations), or just import a ready-made pack from the shop.

  • Bring in AI: The installer includes a local MCP link to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini (the Google Antigravity app). You only need their desktop app — no API key in QuizBrothers. Try: Create a new quiz called SuperQuiz and add 10 questions, and AI saves it straight into the program. Still check the facts before quiz night — the quiz author is responsible, not the chatbot.
  • Don’t forget the tie-breaker: While you are writing the quiz, add a tie-breaker question and check Tiebreaker on it. It is placed at the very end. Closest wins (guess a number) works best and stops another draw. In Settings → Language and breaks, turn on tie-breakers when scores are level and set how many rounds you want before a break.
  • First tip: Click through everything at home first and test it on two phones in demo mode.

2. Prepare the presentation

You don’t need PowerPoint. On the Quizzes tab click Create presentation. The program builds the slides from your questions, options, images and breaks. Double-click opens the editor, where you can tune the design and put everything exactly where you want it. The intro slide also gets a QR code automatically so teams can install the app before you start. If you don’t like our intro slide, add your own and download the QR codes from the player apps page.

3. Set up the room

Connect the PC to a projector or a large TV. You, the host, see QuizShow on the computer; the audience sees the presentation. Don’t skimp on sound — it makes at least as much of an impression as a good picture. The kit list is in what you need for quiz night.

  • Connection (Wi-Fi vs PIN): The difference between your own network and an online code is in Wi-Fi vs PIN. If you use your own Wi-Fi, put the PC on Ethernet to the router — every phone talks through your machine.
  • Practical tip for players: Ask teams to lengthen screen timeout so the app doesn’t sleep halfway through a question.

4. Unlock the live event

Demo mode is great for a home test with two players, but for a real quiz activate a credit in My account. One credit unlocks full hosting for 24 hours with unlimited devices. Do this at home on stable internet, in case the venue drops out. On the Present tab pick the season and location from Statistics so team results count toward the overall table. If you haven’t created a season and location yet, do it in Statistics.

5. Connect the teams

On the Present tab select the quiz and the presentation you prepared. The green buttons walk you through it.

  • Start the local server or the online PIN, then click Start presentation.
  • Teams join in the app. When you click Send quiz, wait until every team has a green tick.
  • Tip for you: You can join as !Presenter — the system lets you into the game to test, but you won’t appear in the tables or statistics, so you can see exactly what the other players see on their phones.
  • Keyboard shortcuts: You can host the whole quiz with the arrow keys and Num 0 (on a Mac without a numpad, use right Shift). Right arrow first shows the question on the big screen; read it out, then press Num 0 to send it to phones and open QuizShow.

6. Run the show in QuizShow

Once a question is live, QuizShow is your host panel. Answers arrive in real time and points count themselves. You can adjust scores, start a timer, give a 50:50, a hint, or during a break send the interim table to the projector. Spacebar shows the explanation you attached to the question, so after answers you can say why the correct answer is correct.

  • Breaks and scoring: If breaks are on, Scoring opens after the last question of a round. Insert the round chart into the presentation — nothing fancy, just click “Insert into presentation”. Click “Break” to send the interim table to players’ phones. After the break: arrow, read the question, Num 0.
  • Fair-play alerts: You get a warning if a phone left the quiz screen, split the screen or pulled down the status bar. Not every alert is cheating — check first before you take points. Usually a word to the team is enough.
  • A quiz started by mistake is fixed with the lightning button (back to the start) or sync, which repairs a specific team.

7. Tie-breaker

If teams are level at the end, click Tiebreaker — the program shows who is involved. Show the question on the big screen first, read it, then start the tie-breaker. It is sent only to the teams that tied. With Closest wins the system awards decimal points (e.g. +0.2 and +0.1), so another draw is unlikely.

  • After they answer, evaluate the question and click Evaluate quiz. If nobody is tied any more, insert the last round into the presentation, show the chart and send the results.
  • During the tie-breaker and the final table, press M to mute fair-play alerts — some teams already close the app at that point.

8. After the last question

Show the audience the final ranking and send it to their phones with the green button. In Statistics you will see the quiz details, team results and season standings. Credits are tied to a specific event, so you don’t pay a monthly fee just for having the program installed. Be careful not to leave your competition season selected while you are only rehearsing, or test results mix into the real table. Make a testing season under any name and practice there. People still forget sometimes, so when you close the quiz we ask whether you want to save it to statistics.

After this, you should be in good shape. If something is still unclear, there is more in the Documentation. Short answers are also in the FAQ.