Quiz Game Board Builder

Making a game

1. Fill in the game information. Only the title is needed; the rest shows on the title screen.
2. Choose how many categories and rows the board has, and the points for each row.
3. Type a name for each category, then a question and an answer for each square, or import them from a spreadsheet or a text file. Tick Bonus on a square to make it a bonus square (see below).
4. Set the teams, the rules, and a color theme.
5. Click Try the game to check it in a new tab, then Download the game file.

Your work is saved as a draft in this browser while you type. To change a game later (or next year), click Open a saved game file and choose the file you downloaded. Then download a new copy.

Playing the game

• Open the game file in a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari). It works without the internet. The Full screen button hides the browser bars on the projector.
• Click a square to show its question. Use Show answer when you are ready.
• Under the question, click ✓ for each team that answered correctly. You can mark more than one team, which works well when every team writes its answer on a whiteboard. If wrong answers lose points, click ✗ for a wrong answer. Click a mark again to take it back.
• Bonus squares look like every other square until they are opened. Then the team that picked the square bets some of its points before it sees the question. A team can bet up to its score, or up to the highest point value on the board if its score is lower. A right answer wins the bet; a wrong one loses it (only if wrong answers lose points).
• The − / + buttons under each team change its score by the smallest point value. Click a team's score to type a new number. Undo takes back the last score change.
• Press Esc or click Back to board to close a question. Click a used square to open it again.
• Saving: the game saves itself in the browser as you play, and the title screen offers to continue it. Teaching more than one class? On the title screen, click New game and give it a name such as “Period 2”. Each class's game is listed there with its own teams and scores, so each class picks up where it stopped.
• Saves in the browser stay on that computer, in that browser. They are lost if the browser's data is cleared, and private windows forget them right away. To be safe, or to move to another computer, click Teams & saves, then Save the game so far to a file. That downloads a copy of the game with the progress inside it: open the copy next time to continue.

Pictures

• Each square can have a picture with the question, a picture with the answer, or both. A question can be just a picture, with no words.
• Click + Picture to choose a file, paste a copied picture into the question or answer box, or drag a picture file onto it.
• Pictures are made smaller (at most 1280 pixels on the long side) and stored inside the game file, so the game still works without the internet. This also removes hidden information that phones add to photos, such as where the photo was taken.
• Write a short description for each picture. It is read aloud by screen readers.
• In the game, click a picture to show it as large as the screen allows.
• Pictures make the game file bigger, and they are not part of the spreadsheet (CSV) download.

Colors and accessibility

• Every theme is checked against the color-contrast rules of WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the accessibility standard that U.S. public schools are required to meet: text needs at least 4.5:1 contrast with what is behind it, and outlines and borders need 3:1. The built-in themes all pass, with text at 5:1 or better, which is easier to read on a projector.
• Choose Custom colors to pick your own. Colors that don't pass are listed with the part of the game they affect. You can still build the game, but students with low vision or color blindness may not be able to read those parts.
• The game does not rely on color alone: right and wrong marks have ✓ and ✗ and are underlined when chosen, the leading team has a ★, and used squares are empty.

Good to know

• The answers are stored inside the game file. Share the file with students only if you don't mind them reading the answers.
• Google Drive and some school systems show an HTML file as code. Download the file and open it from your computer instead.
• The game file uses no internet connection and sends nothing anywhere.