How to play Trivia

Trivia is the oldest party game there is: someone asks a question, and whoever knows the answer says it first. Our version keeps it simple. You pick a subject - or let questions come from every subject at once - and answer ten or twenty questions against the clock. Each question has four answers to choose from, or is a statement that is either true or false. After you answer, the game shows the right answer and one short line about it, so even a question you miss teaches you something.

The question bank holds tens of thousands of questions in more than twenty categories: geography, history, science, sports, movies, music, literature, food and drink, nature, space, technology and many more, each split into topics. You can play a whole category, one part of it, or a single topic - from the Premier League to the periodic table.

How to play on skill.games

When you open the game, the settings popup appears.

• Category: tap the category row to choose where the questions come from. The list starts with All categories, then the categories themselves. Tap a name to play everything in it - a whole category such as Sports, or a part of one such as Football (Soccer). A line with a blue arrow button on its right has smaller topics inside: tap the arrow to see them and pick one. Inside, the first line - All of the category you are in - plays all of it too. The number on each line is how many questions it holds.
• Questions: 10 or 20 in a game.
• Players with friends: how many seats a game with friends has (2, 3 or 4). It doesn't change a game you play alone.

Press PLAY to play alone, or PLAY WITH A FRIEND to play against friends (see below). Your choices are remembered for next time.

At the top of the screen you see which question you are on and its topic. Under it, a bar shows the time left to answer: it shrinks from green to yellow to red, and the last five seconds tick. The question sits on a white card with a coloured badge: EASY · 1 pt, MEDIUM · 2 pts or HARD · 3 pts - so you always know what a right answer is worth. Tap one of the answers to choose it. On a computer you can also press 1 to 4 (or A to D), and Enter for NEXT.

Once you have answered, the question is revealed: the right answer turns green, your answer turns red if it was wrong, and a short explanation appears under the answers. Tap NEXT for the next question; if you don't, the game moves on by itself after a few seconds. The last question's button says RESULTS.

The menu button in the top-left corner pauses the screen, starts a new game or switches the sound on or off - but the clock keeps running while the menu is open, so finish the question first. On a phone held sideways the question moves to the left and the answers to the right.

Rules

Questions. A game asks 10 or 20 questions from the category you chose, mixing easy, medium and hard ones. You get 20 seconds for each. A question not answered in time counts as missed.

Points. A right answer scores by its difficulty: 1 point for easy, 2 for medium, 3 for hard. A wrong or missing answer scores nothing - there is no penalty for guessing, so always answer.

No repeats. The game remembers which questions you have already been asked (in this browser) and gives you new ones first. Only when every question in your chosen category has been asked does that category start over.

The answers stay secret. The questions come from the skill.games server one at a time, and the right answer is only sent after you have answered - so it can't be looked up in the page while you think.

Playing alone

A game on your own has no winner or loser: it is you against the questions. At the end you see how many you got right (for example 8 / 10), your points, and how you did on easy, medium and hard questions. Under it are your statistics: the games you have played, your best game, how many good games (70% right or better) you have had in a row, and the share of all your answers that were right. The settings show a short version of the same record.

Playing with friends

Press PLAY WITH A FRIEND and choose a name if you haven't yet. The game gives you a link to send to your friends; whoever opens it takes a seat. With 2 players the game starts as soon as your friend arrives. With 3 or 4 seats, the host can press START GAME once at least one friend has joined, and the computer takes the empty seats.

Everyone gets the same question at the same moment. A chip for each player at the top shows their score and a dot that turns blue once they have answered - but nobody sees what the others chose until everyone has answered or the time is up. Then the question is revealed for all: the right answer, the explanation, and small markers showing who picked which answer. The next question comes when everyone has pressed NEXT, or after a few seconds.

The player with the most points at the end wins; players who tie for first share a draw. Your wins and losses with friends are kept as their own record. Use the emoji button in the corner to react to a lucky guess. If you lose your connection, the game reconnects by itself and puts you back where the game is.

Tips

• Read the whole question. Many questions turn on one word - "first", "largest", "not". The clock gives you time to read it twice.
• Eliminate. With four answers, crossing out the two you know are wrong turns a guess into a coin toss.
• Always answer. A wrong answer costs nothing, so never let the clock run out.
• True or false: statements with "always" or "never" are often false; the bank's statements are short and precise, so look for the detail that is off.
• Hard questions count triple. In a close game with friends, one hard question can decide it.
• Learn from the explanation. The line under each revealed question is often the key to another question in the same topic.
• Narrow the category. Playing one topic repeatedly is a good way to learn it - you won't see a question twice until you have seen them all.