3 years, 1 month ago
What would you recommend as a pub quiz round to avoid people cheating by using google etc on their phones?
E.g. most questions like 'when did such and such do whadjamacallit' are easily found with google on a blackberry or similar. What I am looking for is suggestions to beat this. Photo recognition of film stars is a good one, a music round - anything else? We have some budget, and getting 10 mini-puzzles was also considered. What else can you come up with?
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M$1 Answer
For one, try to keep the time given to answer short. If they don't have time to look something up on their blackberry, they probably won't use it. Depending on how many people you're dealing with, you might be clear about your "no phones/internet-capable devices" rule, and make it clear that anyone caught using one of these will be disqualified. If you make somebody think that you are watching vigilantly and it could get them disqualified, they will probably avoid doing it.
But as far as specific types of questions go, you seem to have a good start. However, I would recommend replacing "movie star recognition" with just "movie recognition" by displaying single frames of a film. I've done things like that before and it was an absolute blast, since it gives somebody context to consider as opposed to just a face. There is also a variation of the game that uses four frames for each film, shown from hardest to guess (usually an establishing shot or something without any characters in it) to easiest to guess (may have one of the lead actors in it, but generally not iconic images either. When that happens you have everyone shouting the answer out at once and it's hard to tell who got it).
Also, anyone listens to the "I Love Movies" podcast with Doug Benson, they will be familiar with the "Leonard Maltin Game." It is fairly simple, and very cheap. All you need is a copy of the Leonard Maltin movie guide, which is an EXTREMELY comprehensive guide to almost every film he has ever reviewed so far. (The book is massive.) You select a film from the book and give out the year it was released. You then begin reading the cast members' names from lowest to highest, ending on the lead actors. I'm not sure how you will be doing points, but one way is to give more points for guessing with fewer names. For instance, if the film is Pulp Fiction, they will get more points for guessing it on Eric Stoltz than they will Samuel L. Jackson. Of course, this is just one option. The best part is that since the Leonard Maltin movie guide is released annually, it is extremely easy to find a copy of last year's edition on the cheap. I was at Borders the other day and they had the 2007 edition on clearance for only $2.
But as far as specific types of questions go, you seem to have a good start. However, I would recommend replacing "movie star recognition" with just "movie recognition" by displaying single frames of a film. I've done things like that before and it was an absolute blast, since it gives somebody context to consider as opposed to just a face. There is also a variation of the game that uses four frames for each film, shown from hardest to guess (usually an establishing shot or something without any characters in it) to easiest to guess (may have one of the lead actors in it, but generally not iconic images either. When that happens you have everyone shouting the answer out at once and it's hard to tell who got it).
Also, anyone listens to the "I Love Movies" podcast with Doug Benson, they will be familiar with the "Leonard Maltin Game." It is fairly simple, and very cheap. All you need is a copy of the Leonard Maltin movie guide, which is an EXTREMELY comprehensive guide to almost every film he has ever reviewed so far. (The book is massive.) You select a film from the book and give out the year it was released. You then begin reading the cast members' names from lowest to highest, ending on the lead actors. I'm not sure how you will be doing points, but one way is to give more points for guessing with fewer names. For instance, if the film is Pulp Fiction, they will get more points for guessing it on Eric Stoltz than they will Samuel L. Jackson. Of course, this is just one option. The best part is that since the Leonard Maltin movie guide is released annually, it is extremely easy to find a copy of last year's edition on the cheap. I was at Borders the other day and they had the 2007 edition on clearance for only $2.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Thanks for the response.
I'm in the UK so I'll have to pass on the movie guide suggestion. As for keeping it short, it's a work thing and will be quite relaxed, jovial etc, I'm not sure racing through the questions will work. Also, mostly we're IT boff's, so we're quite quick at google anyway :)
I agree with the movie round, films are better than faces.
Thanks again for your response!