Terms of use

Playing the game

You can create or join a room without an account. A room supports up to eight players. The host chooses the packs and settings, and can start another game with the same group. Everyone needs their own browser and an internet connection.

Use a name you’re comfortable sharing with the other players. Don’t impersonate someone, use abusive names or share other people’s personal information. Hosts are responsible for who they invite and for supervising games they organise for children.

Rooms and access

Keep private room codes and passwords within your group. A password restricts new lobby joins; it isn’t an invitation to share sensitive information. If you leave explicitly, you forfeit your place and score. A disconnected player has 30 seconds to rejoin from the same browser after the server detects the disconnection. After that, their place and score are removed. Hosts can remove other players. If the host disconnects, another connected player becomes host. If everyone else leaves during a game, the remaining player wins by forfeit.

Question packs

Surprise me uses all-ages packs only. Adults Only (18+) must be explicitly selected by the host and includes alcohol, adult culture, and non-graphic sex and anatomy questions. Only use it if everyone is 18+ and comfortable with those topics. No date of birth or age-verification document is collected.

Fair play and results

The server checks answers and scores. Each player has one answer per question. In Fastest Finger First, the first correct answer received by the server wins the point. In Classic Trivia, each correct answer earns one point and the highest score wins. An all-wrong round reveals the answer without awarding a point. Optional sudden-death tie-breakers always use Fastest Finger First.

Connection speed can affect close finishes. Don’t tamper with the service, automate guesses, attempt to access another player’s session, bypass room protections or overload the servers. We may restrict access that disrupts games or risks other users’ security.

Questions come from a community-maintained bank and may contain mistakes. Results and statistics are for the game, not an independent assessment of anyone’s knowledge or ability. Please report a disputed question to martin@hughes.lol.

Availability and changes

Showtime is currently free to play. We may change features, correct questions or take the game offline for maintenance. We can’t promise uninterrupted access, and a connection failure or update may interrupt a game. Room data is temporary; don’t rely on Showtime as a permanent record.

Content and links

Question content is adapted from Open Trivia Database under its stated licence. See question credits for the licence and changes. The site also links to third-party services and sources, which have their own terms and privacy policies. No affiliation with a voice-call or workplace platform is implied.

Responsibility

Please use Showtime for casual games rather than decisions, paid competitions or situations where an incorrect result could cause loss. We don’t make guarantees about question accuracy, availability or network fairness. Nothing in these terms removes rights or responsibilities that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Questions or complaints

Contact Martin Hughes at martin@hughes.lol. We may update these terms as the game changes; the date above shows the latest version. The privacy notice and cookie policy explain how the service uses information.