Hosting a live quiz
A live game turns any quiz into a room event: questions on one big screen, answers on everyone’s phone, and a leaderboard between rounds. It needs no app and no player accounts.
Running a game
- Open the quiz and press Host live — in the quiz editor, on the quiz’s card in your dashboard, or on its results page. The host screen opens in a new tab; put it on the projector or share that screen.
- Players go to votense.com/play on their phones, type the six-digit PIN shown on screen, and choose a nickname. Their names appear in the lobby as they join.
- Press Start. Each question shows for 3 seconds so everyone can read it, then the answers open with a countdown.
- The answer is revealed automatically when time runs out or every player has answered — or press Skip — reveal now. The reveal shows how many chose each answer and your explanation.
- Show the Leaderboard or go straight to the Next question. After the last one, the podium shows the top three, with the full table, a CSV download and a link to the quiz’s results.
How points are scored
A correct answer earns its full points if it arrives the instant the question opens, falling in a straight line to half points at the buzzer. A wrong answer, or no answer, earns nothing.
| Answered after | Standard question | Double points |
|---|---|---|
| 0 seconds | 1,000 | 2,000 |
| Half the time limit | 750 | 1,500 |
| The full time limit | 500 | 1,000 |
Players with the same score are separated by total answering time — the faster player ranks higher.
Fair by design
- The server keeps the clock. Time is measured when an answer arrives, using our clock, not the phone’s. An answer arriving up to 0.75 seconds after the buzzer is accepted — one network hop — and scored as a buzzer answer.
- No early spoilers. The correct answer is not sent to any screen until the reveal, and a phone learns whether it was right at the same moment as everyone else.
- One answer per question. The first answer a player sends is final.
- The key is frozen when the game starts. Editing the quiz during a game does not change that game.
What players need
A phone, tablet or laptop with a web browser and a connection for the whole game. No app, no account and no email address. The only thing stored about a player is the nickname they typed and their answers, for 30 days. Players can also take the same quiz from a link without a host — see quizzes.
Common questions
- How many players can join?
- It depends on the host’s plan: 50 players per game on Free, 300 on Basic and 1,000 on Advanced. Nicknames are unique within a game, ignoring capitals, and the host can remove a player from the lobby.
- Can someone join after the game has started?
- Yes, until the game ends. They score nothing for questions already played, so it is worth waiting in the lobby until the player count stops rising.
- What happens if a phone loses connection?
- The player reopens votense.com/play in the same browser and rejoins as the same player with their score intact. An answer that never reached the server before time ran out counts as no answer.
- Can two people host the same game?
- Only the account that started the game controls it. Opening the host screen twice is safe — every control is checked against the game’s current state, so a double press moves the game once.
- How long are results kept?
- A finished game keeps its final table, answers and nicknames for 30 days, then they are deleted. A game left unfinished is deleted after 24 hours. Deleting the quiz deletes all of its games straight away.