UnPhiltered Trivia supports seven distinct scoring formats. Each one changes how teams earn points and, more importantly, how engaged they stay throughout the round. Picking the right format for each round is one of the biggest levers a host has on the overall experience.
Basic
Basic is the default and simplest format. Each question is worth a fixed number of points (you set the value when creating the question). Teams submit a text answer, you grade it correct or wrong, and the points are either added or not. Use Basic for your standard question-and-answer rounds where you want the host in full control of scoring. It works for any topic and requires no special setup from teams. Most of your rounds will probably be Basic.
Wager
Wager rounds add risk and excitement to a single question. Teams see the question, then bet some portion of their current score before answering. Get it right and they gain the wagered points. Get it wrong and they lose them. Wagers are floored at zero — a team cannot go below zero points from a wager loss. Use Wager for a "double down" moment, typically at the end of a round or as a sudden-death question. One wager question per game is usually enough — too many and the mechanic loses its punch. Because the host must grade each wager answer individually and the stakes are high, slow down and make the reveal dramatic.
Confidence
Confidence rounds present all questions at once, and teams assign a unique confidence value to each one. If you have five questions, teams assign the values 1 through 5 — one value per question. The value they assign becomes their point multiplier for that question. A team that assigns "5" to the question they are most sure about earns 5 points if correct and nothing if wrong. Confidence rounds reward teams that know what they know. They are great as a middle round when you want something mentally engaging without wager-level stakes. Avoid Confidence if you are short on time — these rounds take longer because teams are weighing multiple questions simultaneously.
Timeline
Timeline rounds give teams a list of events and ask them to place them in chronological order. Players drag and drop the events on their phones. The round auto-grades: each event placed in the correct position earns one point, so teams can earn partial credit. No host grading is required, which makes Timeline rounds fast. They work best for history, music, or sports topics where chronology is meaningful. Teams tend to argue and collaborate loudly during Timeline rounds, which raises the energy in the room. Aim for five to eight events per round — more than that becomes unwieldy on a phone screen.
Multiple Answers
Multiple Answers rounds pose one question with several blanks. For example: "Name the five members of a starting basketball lineup by position." Teams fill in as many correct answers as they can, earning one point per correct answer. The round auto-grades using fuzzy matching, so minor spelling errors do not cost teams points. Multiple Answers rounds are great for closing out a themed category — they feel satisfying because every team can earn something even without a perfect answer. Keep the number of blanks between four and eight for best results.
Multiple Choice
Multiple Choice rounds give teams up to four options (A, B, C, D) and ask them to pick one. Players tap a single choice on their phones, and the round auto-grades against the correct option — no host grading required. Multiple Choice is the friendliest format for a mixed crowd because every team can take a guess even on a topic they do not know, which keeps casual players engaged. It is also the fastest round to run. Use it early to warm the room up, or for a picture round where each image has a set of possible answers. Because it auto-grades, double-check that each question has its correct option marked before you go live.
Closest (Tiebreaker)
Closest rounds ask a single numeric question — "How many feet tall is the Eiffel Tower?" — and the team whose guess is nearest wins, whether they go over or under. It auto-grades and is designed to break a tie at the very end of the night rather than to swing the main scoreboard, so it works best as your final round. Keep it to one question with a numeric answer. A good closest question is something nobody knows exactly but everyone can reason about, which makes for a fun, suspenseful finish when two teams are neck and neck.