How to Make a Pub Quiz Easier

Hosting a pub quiz is a great way to encourage more people to visit your venue; however, this will only work if you have an interesting quiz!

Finding the balance between tricky quiz questions and super simple ones can be difficult, which is why at Quiz on Demand, we’ve created the guide below on making an easy but interesting pub quiz.

 

How do you know if your pub quiz is too hard?

Generally speaking, a good tell tale sign that your pub quiz is too hard is if the majority of teams finish with a low score and fail to answer a lot of the questions. 

Many quiz-goers will leave questions blank to come back to later on in the quiz, however, if you notice they have multiple answers left blank, this is usually a good indication that the questions are too hard. 

While it is reasonable to throw in some harder questions, be careful not to flood your quiz with them as it can put some people off. 

 

Will hosting an ‘easy’ pub quiz put people off?

While you could argue that hosting an “easy” quiz will attract more people since there are higher chances of winning, it is possible that it could also put people off since there will likely be a lack of competition. 

People enjoy putting their obscure knowledge to the test with quizzes, which is why it’s always a good idea to have a variety of questions that all range in difficulty. 

 

How to avoid making your pub quiz too difficult

 

1. One good way to avoid making your quiz too difficult is by including questions that have some relevance to current events. For example, you should include questions surrounding things that have happened in the past week.
   
   These types of questions could be related to current sporting events, world news, “on this day” style of questions and so on. This way it gives all contestants a fair chance since most people will keep up with the news one way or another.
2. Another good way to avoid making it too difficult is by ensuring that you have a variety of different types of rounds. Everyone is different, so for some, picture rounds may be really easy and the actual questions may be more difficult, and vice versa.
3. If quizzes only have one style of questions for each round, it can be difficult for those who have other ways of learning. To level the playing field, make sure you have a variety of different rounds included, such as picture rounds and music rounds as well as the usual question and answer format. 

 

We have a wide variety of different types of quizzes to choose from; just head over to our quiz shop to find out more. 

 

How do you make a pub quiz interesting but simple?

Having a variety of different rounds in your pub quiz isn’t just a simple way to avoid it being too difficult, it also helps to make it more interesting. Quiz teams want to see a variety of different rounds and questions included as it allows them to play off each other’s strengths. 

Another simple way to make your quiz interesting is by having a specific, but broad theme in which everyone can get involved with. For example, having a general “World Cup quiz” could include a variety of questions from music rounds, to picture rounds, to players and teams and so on. 

 

Top tips for creating a simple pub quiz

Listed below are our top tips for creating a simple pub quiz. 

 

Decide on your format

Your first step should be deciding on the format of your quiz and over what time period. A great pub quiz is not too long with a break after each round so your teams can go to the bar – Two to two and a half hours is ideal. Four rounds, each round taking 30 minutes. 

 

Round 1 – Start your night with a Table Top Quizzes or a ‘Face Race’ Picture quiz – they are a great introduction to your quiz night and your team will love working through the cryptic clues. Once again, they are not too difficult, but to simplify, you can offer a few cheeky clues on the tougher teasers.

Because quiz teams are free to complete the Table Top Quiz Games before you start to read out the questions, you will find the teams will often share information. This is not a bad thing, especially with some of the tougher answers. It’s all part of the engagement that goes into the making of a great pub quiz night. 

 

Round 2 – The first twenty questions from any of the weekly 40 question quiz sheets available on Quiz On Demand are ideal. If you wanted themed questions, the 40question Megaquiz in Rounds is a great option. 10 General knowledge, 10 TV/Films, 10 Sport and 10 Pop Music questions.

 

Round 3 –  Questions 21 through to number 40; or, you can leave this round out if you want to run your quiz in under 2 hours. 

 

Round 4 –  Quiz teams love a music round and this really is as easy as putting a playlist together in Spotify, flicking between track and ask your quiz teams to names the artist. Of course, you can make the playlist to best suit your crowd. Throw in some classics to get your teams singing along.

Remember though, phone apps like Shazam can identify a song and the artist in under 2 seconds, so remind your teams “NO SHAZAM”.

Other fun options on your music round is ‘Beat The Intro’ or name the first world of the lyric, which can take a little more time to compile, but your teams will really appreciate the effort.

 

Order questions appropriately to keep interest

Making the first few questions quite easy is a good way to keep participants interested, since they will feel like they are starting on the right track. Our Easy Quiz pack is great for this!

There should be a mix of harder and easier questions at different points of the quiz, which can be difficult to compile. At quiz on Demand, we offer a simple purchase and download of these mixed quizzes to save you so much time and effort.

 

Randomly position correct answers

This will only really work for multiple choice questions, which should ideally be scattered throughout the quiz. 

Make sure that each multiple choice question is not always the same answer. For example, not every multiple choice answer should be A. These sorts of questions should have answers each letter, and should alternate often. 

 

Keep it a reasonable length 

People often have short attention spans, especially in a pub! If you don’t want participants getting bored, make sure your quiz is a reasonable length. 

We recommend two and a half hour max for a pub quiz, including breaks for quiz teams to use the bar. Four round max with tabletop quiz, followed by two rounds of 20 questions and finally, a music round. 

 

Test your quiz beforehand

Before you do the real thing, get your friends or family members to play your quiz and see how they do. Once you receive the feedback, you can adjust the questions accordingly. 

How to make your pub quiz easier

No one knows your quiz audience like you do – as a quiz host, you understand their strengths and their weaknesses. Gauge the level you want to pitch the degree of difficulty. 

 

Ideally, on a 60 question quiz, giving one point for a correct answer your winning teams need to be around 55, while the less knowledgeable teams can still end the night with a healthy 40 points.

 

There is a lot of enjoyment for teams getting correct answers. So the more right answers, the more they will enjoy the night.

 

At Quiz on Demand, we produce three weekly 40 question quizzes. The Easy Peasy Quiz is pitched ‘mainly easy’ for the less-bright quizzers. While the MegaQuiz and the MeqaQuiz in rounds are pitched ‘easy to medium’.

 

A good tip is to plan ahead. Which ever quiz you buy and download from Quiz On Demand, have a read through question by question, as the Quiz Host must judge if the question is pitched at the right difficulty level for your crowd. 

If you feel the question is too easy, beef it up and make it tougher. Likewise, if it’s too hard, simplify the question to make it less difficult.

 

Here are a few examples of how to make a question tougher or simplify to make it

Easier:

Original Question:

What was the title of Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel that was made into a blockbuster film? JAWS

Make it harder (take the year out and add ‘the first novel’):
What was the title of Peter Benchley’s first novel that was made into a blockbuster film? JAWS

 

Make it easier:

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water. What was the title of Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel that was made into a blockbuster film? JAWS

 

Make it even easier (Make it multiple choice):

What was the title of Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel that was made into a blockbuster film? Was it Claws, Jaws or Paws? JAWS

 

Always remember, this is YOUR quiz crowd and as the quiz host, you MUST deliver those questions at the correct level of difficulty. The questions are only the content –  a slight amendment before you host the quiz will improve things massively.