Game Modes and Rules
Modes, boards, game layers, the Span Rush bonus round, and every rule a host can change
How a Game Is Put Together
A saved game combines a set of game rules with a question collection. The rules are made of independent choices that can be combined freely, within what each mode supports:
Game mode
What a correct answer does and how a game is won.
Board shape
Hexagon cells, square cells, a road or a winding route.
Board layout
A letter on every cell, or a category per column and a level per row.
Game layers
Optional extra mechanics, off by default, that can be switched on and ordered.
Core settings
Board size, turns, answering, timing, scoring, match format, teams and the Span Rush bonus round.
In the app, choose Customize game rules while setting up a game. Built-in presets cannot be changed: the app asks you to name a copy, and the copy is kept in your saved rules. The editor shows the allowed range for every number, and a layer that does not work with the chosen mode is marked as not available. The server checks that the board shape and the mode are compatible before a game launches.
Built-In Presets
| Preset | What it plays like |
|---|---|
| Classic Beep Quiz | A 7×7 board with repeated letters, best of three, open buzzing. |
| Quick Play | One game on a 7×7 board. Letters may repeat; questions remain distinct. |
| Game Night | One full game on a 7×7 board with repeated letters. |
| Family Night | The side that is behind picks next, so nobody runs away with it. Gentle questions, no stealing, surprises and a streak to cheer for. |
| Tap Night | Answers are tapped, not spoken: the four options become buttons on every phone and the game scores itself. |
| Party Pack | Many layers at once — cards, buried hazards, hidden springs, surprise cells and a hot streak — with a buzz race to open. One loud game. |
| Lightning Round | The turn passes after every cell, the clocks are short, the storm steals seconds on buried ground, and the last cells sprint. |
| Tournament | 7×7 board, best of five, a 150 ms buzz window and negative marking. |
| Training / HSE | Turn-based, no buzz race, no stealing. Suited to assessment and induction. |
| Category Board | Seven categories across, easy at the top and hard at the bottom. One game. |
| The Gauntlet | A race across shared ground: nobody owns a square, your token moves when you answer, a hard question pays a double move, and the first to the far side wins. |
| The Summit | Race to the middle: nobody owns a square, your token climbs when you answer, a hard question pays a double move, and the first to stand on the crown wins. |
| The Race | Up to six cars, six mystery cells and a hand of cards for each player. The host opens each turn; play one card before or after the question, then choose a category and a level. |
Game Modes
| Mode | Sides | How it plays |
|---|---|---|
| Territory | 2 teams | Win a cell and it is yours for the rest of the game. A chain of your cells joining your two edges wins the board. The two teams travel in different directions — left to right, or bottom to top. |
| Traverse | 2 teams | Nobody owns a cell. Your token moves onto the cell you answer; a cell another token stands on refuses entry until it moves. The first token to reach its far edge wins. Hard answers and steals can be set to reach further. |
| King of the Hill | 2 teams | Nobody owns a cell. Tokens race from their edge toward the centre, and the first token standing on the hill wins. |
| Race | 2 to 6 racers | Each racer drives a car along a shared route. A correct answer moves the car forward by the question's level; a wrong answer leaves it where it is. The first car to the finish wins. |
In Territory, Traverse and King of the Hill, the team whose turn it is picks a cell and answers the question behind it. In the Race, each turn's question comes from the question choice set in the rules.
For games where teams must connect their edges, the rules also decide what happens when neither team can still connect: the team with the most cells wins, a new board is played, or a sudden-death question decides.
Board Shapes
Hexagonal cells
A honeycomb grid where each cell has six neighbours.
Square cells
A rectangular grid.
Road
An ordered route, for modes that move along a route.
Winding route
A route that winds back and forth across the board — the Race's default.
Choosing Game mode default uses the shape the mode provides. The number of rows and columns is part of the rules: more rows and columns mean more cells and more questions, and fewer of them on the same screen mean bigger cells.
Board Layouts
| Layout | How it works |
|---|---|
| Letters | Every cell shows a letter, and the answer to the question behind it begins with that letter. The rules can require every letter on the board to be different, which needs enough distinct letters in the chosen questions. |
| Categories | Each column is a category and each row a level, from easy at the top to hard at the bottom. A cell's question comes from that category and level. |
Turns and Picks
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Who opens the match? | The first team, or the fastest team in a buzz race on everyone's phones. |
| Who picks the next cell? | The cell winner picks again; the teams alternate after every cell; or the team with fewer cells picks next (alternating when tied). |
| Which cell can a team choose? | Any unclaimed cell; a cell next to your own cells, starting at your edge; or a first pick at your edge, then any cell. The game highlights the cells that can be chosen. |
| Team size and direction | The maximum number of players on each team, and the direction each team must connect in edge-connecting games. |
Answering and Timing
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Who can answer? | Both teams, only the team taking the turn, or a player chosen by the host. Host choice requires spoken answers. |
| How players answer | Buzz, then say the answer (the host marks it right or wrong), or tap one of four options on the phone (the game scores itself; every question needs its four answers). |
| Steals | After a missed spoken answer, the other team can get a chance to steal, with its own countdown. Steals do not apply to tap-to-answer. |
| Time to answer | The answer countdown in seconds. The host can also set it for an individual game at launch. |
| Reading time | A pause before buzzing opens, so players can read the question. Set to 0 to skip it. |
| Buzz collection window | A short period, in milliseconds, that gathers near-simultaneous buzzes before a winner is chosen, so a fast network does not beat a fast finger. |
| Cell reveal delay | The pause after a cell is selected, before its question appears. |
Choosing Questions in the Race
| Question choice | How a turn works |
|---|---|
| Player chooses category and level | Each turn offers every category that still has unused questions. The player picks a category, then a level, then answers. |
| Player chooses from three random categories | Each turn offers three random categories that still have unused questions; the player picks one, then a level. A game needs three categories with questions to start. |
| Automatic random question | Each turn shows a random unused question immediately, with no category or level choice. |
Questions already shown in the match are not offered again.
Question balance
- Easy-question limit per player: cap the share of easy questions in each player's pool (for example, 25% of a 20-question pool allows at most 5 easy questions). Once a player's easy allowance is used, only harder levels remain until the pool is completed.
- Game question distribution: one budget shared by all players and categories — no limits, percentages per level, exact counts per level, or automatic (recommended). Every question shown uses up its level's allowance, including wrong answers and timeouts, and allowances never refill on their own.
- If the allowance runs out during a game, the host can raise it or continue without limits.
Scoring and Match Format
| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Correct answer | The usual points for a correct answer. A question with its own point value uses that value instead. |
| Incorrect answer | Use a negative number to deduct points, or 0 for no penalty. A question nobody attempts does not penalise either team. |
| Successful steal | Points for the team that answers a steal correctly. |
| Game and match bonuses | Extra points for winning a game and for winning the whole match. |
| Span Rush bonus | Points for completing the Span Rush bonus round. |
| Games per match | How many games make up a match, and whether the opening team alternates between games. |
| Tied match | Sudden death or highest score. An even number of games always needs a tie-break. |
Game Layers
Layers are optional mechanics on top of the normal game. They are off by default, so an ordinary match plays exactly as described above. When more than one layer reacts to the same event, they act in the order set in the rules editor.
Cards
Each side holds a hand and plays cards during set periods — before the question, after it, or both — on a host-controlled or timed basis. Every card has an opposite, and when opposites meet both are discarded.
Surprise cells
Some cells secretly carry a surprise. Solve one and your team banks bonus points; miss it and you lose some. Nobody knows where they are — not even the host — until one goes off.
Sandstorm
Hazards are buried under the board before play. Find one and it costs your side points — and privately shows you where another one lies. Hazards can also shorten the answer clock.
Oasis
Springs are hidden under the board. Take a cell with a spring under it and your side is paid a bonus; a cell nobody wins keeps its secret.
Hot streak
Claim cells back to back and the streak ignites for bonus points. A cell the other side takes — or that nobody takes — breaks it.
Comeback
While a side trails by a set gap, every cell it takes pays a bonus — or, in token modes, extra reach. It stops by itself when the game tightens.
Final sprint
When the board runs low, every answer clock is shortened by a few seconds until the finish.
Honours
End-of-game titles with no points attached: the fastest hand on the buzzer, the most steals, the longest run of claims. A tied title is not awarded.
Ladders, snakes and quicksand
For the Race. Ladders move your car forward; snakes move it back and trap it; quicksand traps it in place. A trapped player must answer a hard question correctly to move again. Start and finish stay clear.
Mystery cells
The ladders, snakes and quicksand layer can instead use mystery cells: cells marked with a question mark that choose a different outcome each time a player lands on them. Outcomes can include a ladder, a snake trap, quicksand, moving forward or backward, missing a turn, and — when the cards layer is on — drawing or losing a card. The rules set which outcomes are possible, how many mystery cells there are, how far forward and backward moves go, and how many turns are missed.
Before launch, the server checks that trapping features have hard questions available for recovery.
Span Rush Bonus Round
Span Rush is an optional bonus round with its own board and a single countdown for the whole round. Each cell carries a set of initials, and the question's answer matches them. The host chooses the contestant, records each answer, and can skip a cell, pause, resume or abandon the round (abandoning is recorded). If the rules allow passing, the contestant can move on from a difficult question. Completing the round earns the Span Rush bonus.
The rules set the Span Rush board's rows and columns, the time limit and whether passing is allowed. Turning Span Rush off keeps these settings for later.
Board Artwork and TV Size
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Board artwork | Classic 2D, Illustrated 2D sprites, 3D, or Arcade. The choice applies on every display; a device that cannot draw the selected style shows the classic board. |
| Board size on the TV | Standard, Large or Extra large. This changes how much of the screen the board uses, not the number of cells. |