General
Tiebreaker Quiz Questions
Think you need tiebreaker quiz questions? They can be the perfect way to decide any quiz… Picture this – The quiz is going great, teams are enjoying the evening, the sounds of laughter fill the room, along with hushed discussions over possible answers, the clink of glasses being raised and a general buzz of anticipation as teams wait expectantly for the next question… as the evening draws to a conclusion the tension rises in the room as thoughts turn to the possibility of winning the big prize and the kudos that comes from first place.
Are Tiebreaker Quiz Questions the only way?
The sheets are collected, the scores tallied and then, after this short interval the quiz host takes the mic once more and reveals the answers to each of the questions, to be greeted by cheers, groans and the odd complaint of “I told you that was the answer, why didn’t you write that down?” as the tension builds…. The host reveals that two teams managed the same total score… it’s a first-place tie!
If you run enough quizzes at some point you’ll encounter this situation from time to time (levels of drama may vary) and if you’re not prepared then you could turn a successful, fun and competitive evening into a damp squib and that’s what your teams will remember.
So, how do you deal with a tie? There are a few easy methods listed below but like everything, the trick is a little preparation in advance.
Split The Prize
Possibly the least satisfying of all the options – if first prize is cash or similar simply divide the prize by the number of winning teams.
Pros
- Its quick
- Every winning team wins something
- Very little advance preparation required
Cons
- Bit of a cop-out
- There’s no entertainment for the other teams in the room
- Lacks imagination
- Can only be used if there’s a prize easily shared
The Classic Tiebreak Question
Typically, a question where even if the contestants don’t know the answer they can have a guess. The team who is closest to the answer wins. Therefore, the answer should be a date or numeric. Teams write the answer to this additional question on the back of their sheet.
For example, the date of birth of a celebrity, the seating capacity of a particular stadium, the fastest time a particular race was run, etc.
Pros
- Provides a proper “finish” to the evening
- Even teams not directly involved witness this end of quiz “drama”
- Relatively quick
- Its seen to be fair
Cons
- You’ll need to prepare these question(s) in advance
- Some answers may be contentious so think and word the question carefully – for example avoid data sources that “round the answer off” – check your answers with more than one source.
The List Game
A spokesperson from each team is invited to the mic. The game is played “sudden death” – you challenge them to identify from a range of possible answers, taking it in turn until one team in a round repeats an answer, hesitates or makes an incorrect guess.
Typical examples, “name a character from the TV series Friends”, “Name an American major League baseball team”, “name a Beatles top 10 UK single”, etc.
Pros
- Possibly the most fun to watch
- It’s a theatrical approach… add a little touch of “TV game show” to the evening
- Cheers and groans from the teams
Cons
- Possibly the most time consuming of the typical tie break so if the evening is running late it may not be as popular as you’d hope
- You’ll need to do loads of preparation for this one
- You’ll need a good memory and to concentrate
- If your list is exhausted, you’ll need a second tiebreaker
Have fun with your quizzes and if you handle it right a tie can add to the fun rather than being an issue.
Tiebreaker Quiz Questions to use
Tiebreakers need to be tough as the quiz needs to be decided by this question. You don’t want both teams to get the answer right or you will need another method to decide the quiz winners. Below are some questions you can use to get you started, researching fun and tricky questions is the key and remember the closest team to the correct answer can still win!
- What year Theresa May was born? 1956
- What is the capacity of the new wembley stadium? 90,000
- According to USDA How many calories are in an egg? 155
- What’s the population of London? 8.788 million
- How many days are in 1 billion seconds? 11574.0740741
- According to the BBC – How many colours can the human eye see? Apporx 100 More Info
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