What you need before the call
The whole setup takes about ten minutes and needs no special equipment - just the video call you already use and the phones already in everyone's pockets.
- A quiz: build one in the manual editor, pick a ready-made one from the public quizzes gallery, or let the AI generator create it from a topic or an uploaded document (PDF, DOCX, HTML, or TXT, up to 60,000 characters).
- A host computer: sign in to glowit.io with Google and keep the game running in a browser window you will share.
- A Zoom meeting with screen sharing enabled, so remote players can watch the main game screen.
- Players' phones: each person joins at glowit.io with the 5-digit room code and a nickname - no app, no account, no email.
Step by step: running the game on Zoom
Once the meeting starts, the flow is simple. Follow these six steps:
- 1. Create your quiz in advance. For a 45-minute session, 15-20 questions is plenty; the AI generator produces up to 25 multiple-choice questions per generation, and you can ask for a difficulty level in its instructions.
- 2. Start the Zoom meeting and share your screen - share the specific browser window running the game so players see the questions, timer, and leaderboard clearly.
- 3. Launch the live game. A 5-digit room code appears on the shared screen.
- 4. Ask everyone to open glowit.io on their phone, enter the code, and pick a nickname. Wait until every name shows up in the lobby.
- 5. Run the questions. Each one has its own timer; when it ends, reveal the answer, then show the leaderboard before moving on.
- 6. Finish on the podium - the top three get their moment, and the game ends on a natural high note.
Pacing: how to keep remote energy high
Remote trivia lives or dies on pacing. On a video call there is a slight delay between what you say and what players see, and attention drifts faster than it does in a room. A few habits fix most of it.
- Read every question aloud. Screen-share quality varies, and hearing the question keeps phone-focused players in sync.
- Keep rounds short: 8-10 questions, a one-minute breather, then the next round. Two or three tight rounds beat one long slog.
- Narrate the leaderboard between questions - call out overtakes and comebacks. Commentary is half the fun.
- Lean on the live leaderboard between questions - it gives the room a quick reset when energy dips.
- End inside an hour. The best trivia nights finish with people asking for a rematch.
Team formats for a virtual trivia night with coworkers
The simplest format is a free-for-all: every coworker answers on their own phone, and the live leaderboard sorts out bragging rights. It scales effortlessly - a single game supports up to 200 players, so it works for a five-person team or an all-hands.
For a more collaborative feel, play in teams: each team picks a captain whose phone submits answers under a team-name nickname, and teammates confer in a side chat between questions. Team play slows the pace slightly, so keep rounds short and cap the night at two rounds.
For larger companies, department vs. department works brilliantly: everyone answers individually, but you crown a department champion based on whose members fill the top of the leaderboard.