Showtime FAQ
Before you start the quiz.
The practical details: who can play, what you need and how the rules work.
What is Showtime?
Showtime! is free browser trivia for friends or solo play. Rooms support 2–8 players, with optional Easy, Medium and Hard bots. Solo practice needs no room or other players and finishes with your own stats. For a group game, one person creates a room, shares its four-letter code and chooses the questions.
Is Showtime free, and do players need an account?
Hosting and joining are free. Players enter a name or nickname; there is no account to create and no app to download.
How many players can join a game?
A room holds 2–8 players, including the host and any bots. At least two connected contestants are needed to start: two humans or a human and a bot. Human players each use a browser and internet connection. Showtime does not offer large-event rooms or public matchmaking.
Can phones, tablets and laptops play in the same room?
Yes. Showtime works in modern browsers on phones, tablets and computers. Different devices can join the same room. JavaScript and an internet connection are required.
How do we play trivia together in person?
Each person opens Showtime on their own device. One player creates a room and reads out the four-letter code. Everyone else enters a name and joins with that code. Questions and scores appear on each screen; no shared screen is required.
Can we play remotely over Discord, Zoom or Microsoft Teams?
Yes. Stay on your usual voice or video call and open Showtime in a browser alongside it. Share the room code in the call or chat. Showtime runs the trivia; it does not provide voice or video chat or require access to your microphone or camera.
Does it work for team meetings and stand-ups?
Yes, for groups of up to eight people. Try five questions with a 10- or 15-second answer timer and Classic Trivia. Allow extra time for the countdowns, reveals and conversation: the answer timer is not the total game length. Players score individually; there are no combined team scores.
Which question packs are available?
The 19 packs are General Knowledge, Film & TV, Music, Science & Nature, Geography, History & Politics, Sports, Video Games, Tech & IT, Food & Drink, Space & Astronomy, History & Civilisations, Animals & Wildlife, Books & Literature, Horror Films, Anime & Manga, Tabletop & Board Games, Cars & Motorsport, 90s & 00s Nostalgia, Adults Only (18+). There are 6,852 built-in questions in total. The host can choose one pack, mix several or use Surprise me. Open Specialist packs in the lobby or solo practice for subjects such as food, space, history, wildlife, literature, horror, anime, tabletop games, cars and nostalgia. These packs are always opt-in.
How do specialist question packs work?
Open Specialist packs in the lobby or solo practice to see the subjects and question counts. Choose one, combine several, or mix them with the general packs. Specialist packs never appear in Surprise me. The host controls the selection in multiplayer; everyone in the lobby can expand the list and see what is selected. Adults Only requires an extra confirmation.
Does Surprise me include adult questions?
No. Surprise me uses six general-interest packs: General Knowledge, Film & TV, Music, Science & Nature, Geography, History & Politics, and Sports. Specialist packs, including Video Games and Tech & IT, stay out of Surprise me. Adults Only (18+) must be selected explicitly by the host and confirmed before it is added. It covers drinks, adult culture and non-graphic sex and anatomy. Only choose it if everyone is 18+ and comfortable with those topics.
Can the host change the difficulty, question count and timer?
Yes. The lobby has sliders for difficulty from Easy to Hard, 5–50 questions and a 10–60 second answer timer. Your question line-up shows how many questions match your packs and difficulty. The game stays at that level; it does not introduce harder questions to avoid repeats. Choose more packs or fewer questions if there are not enough. Guests see the current settings.
What is the difference between Classic Trivia and Fastest Finger First?
Classic Trivia gives one point to each player who answers correctly before the question ends; the highest total wins. Fastest Finger First gives one point to the first correct answer received by the server and immediately ends that question. Every player gets one guess per question.
Does a wrong answer stop a Fastest Finger First round?
No. It locks that player's guess while other players can still answer. The question ends when the first correct answer arrives, the timer runs out or everyone eligible has guessed incorrectly. If nobody is correct, the answer is revealed and nobody receives a point.
How are ties settled?
The host can enable a Sudden Death Tie-breaker in the lobby. Tied leaders then play a tie-breaker using Fastest Finger First, whichever scoring mode the main game used. With the tie-breaker switched off, tied leaders share first place.
Can a lobby be password protected?
Yes. The host can add a password when creating the room. Friends still need its four-letter code. Keep the code and password within your group; a room is not a place to share sensitive personal information.
What happens if a player closes their tab or loses their connection?
After the server detects a disconnection, the player has 30 seconds to reopen Showtime in the same browser and resume their place. The player is removed when that window expires. Silent connection loss can take longer to detect. If the host disconnects, hosting transfers to another connected player. Hosts can also kick players.
What does the results screen show?
The final screen shows podiums, scores and confetti, followed by game statistics such as fastest correct answer, most correct answers, accuracy, longest streak and category leaders. Streaks also appear during play, using completed questions only.
Can I upload my own questions or host a large quiz?
No. Showtime uses its built-in question packs and supports up to eight players. For a custom training quiz, a classroom or a large event, choose a platform with question authoring and the participant capacity you need.
Can I add computer players?
Yes. The host can add Easy, Medium or Hard bots in the lobby, up to eight total players. Bots have randomly chosen UK/US names and are clearly labelled. Difficulty changes both answer speed and accuracy. Their answer plans are set when a question opens, so they do not react to a human answer. Bots can make mistakes and cannot become host.
Is there a solo practice mode without a multiplayer room?
Yes. Solo practice uses the same packs, difficulty, question count, answer timer and scoring mode options. It does not create a room or open a game WebSocket. Other players and bots cannot join. The finish shows your accuracy, speed, streak and category stats rather than multiplayer podiums.
What can I use as a player name?
Use a name or nickname of up to 20 characters. Explicit, abusive and unsafe names are rejected with a request to pick a different name. No automated filter catches every spelling; hosts can also remove a player from their room.
Can we play without analytics?
Yes. Choose Essential only on the cookie banner. The game still works. Optional Vercel Analytics loads only after opt-in, and you can change your choice through Cookie settings in the footer. See the privacy and cookie policies for storage details.
Product facts checked 4 November 2026.