How to Play Jeopardy! on Zoom

Introduction

Jeopardy! Is a classic trivia game that has been captivating generations since the 1960s. The format of the game is unique in that the game host gives the players the answer and the participants must provide the question. If the participant does not respond in question format, they do not receive the points regardless of whether they answered correctly.

There is fun to be had with Jeopardy, be it with a group of friends, family, or even in an educational setting. A group of parents can, for example, write a game to help with home-schooling – which has become a regular part of life for some people due to social distancing requirements.

You might be asking yourself; how could we play Jeopardy in a world where many of us can’t be in the same room as others? Here we explore how to set up the perfect jeopardy game over the much-beloved video conferencing software Zoom, so read on to make sure you know how to be part of the fun!

Playing Jeopardy over Zoom using Jeopardy Labs

What you need:

1. A group of people
2. An electronic device such as a computer, phone, or tablet connected to the internet can run Zoom.
3. One person to act as a game host; this person should be on a computer

Each player can play by themselves or players in the same room can form a team. Depending on how many are participating, players online can also form teams, but this can slightly complicate matters when playing over Zoom so we recommend that each person plays individually unless the players are in the same room e.g., couples or families competing against each other.

The Game Host

The person acting as the game host has multiple options for organizing the game. We recommend using Jeopardy Labs to either select a ready-made quiz or to create a quiz of one’s choosing.

Quizzes on the site are free to access and are a great time saver for playing the game without spending hours preparing. On the other hand, the free option to create a quiz allows you to choose your own topics, level of complicity and even create fun spoof quizzes such as for a friend’s birthday, to play with your other friends over drinks.

You can choose between creating a Jeopardy game and finding an already made one on Jeopardy Labs

If you really enjoy Jeopardy, or are hosting a game you prefer to keep private, you can choose to become a Jeopardy Labs member. Lifetime membership costs $20 and includes additional fun options such as the ability of embed image, videos, and equations in your games as well as increased privacy options.

How to Play

Once your game is ready, invite everyone to a Zoom meeting. The game host should be made the meeting host as they will need to share their screen. The game host should also ensure that sharing of computer sounds is enabled in their zoom settings. This is to allow the participants to hear the fun sound effects. At this point, you are nearly ready to play. Just a few more steps:

1. The game host should load the game and select the number of teams (see image below)
2. They should share their screen and enter full-screen mode so the players can see Jeopardy Labs
3. A person should be chosen to select the first category

The screen for options before starting the game in Jeopardy Labs

You should all refresh your memory of the rules and decide how you want to play before the big game. On the TV version of the game show, a participant will press a buzzer if they believe they know the answer. They then must answer immediately. They receive the points if they answer correctly, and if not, the participant who was second to press the buzzer has a chance to answer.

Once a correct answer has been provided the game host can credit points directly in Jeopardy Labs

Over Zoom, the buzzer may be replaced by participants shouting “Me!” for example. You should agree on the rules within the group to ensure ultimate fun and least squabble! You may also choose to add rules such as the game host should finish reading the question before anyone is allowed to interject for an extra civilized game or play more like the TV version where they can be interrupted at any time!

Jeopardy Labs simplifies the game significantly by allowing the game host to keep score directly in the game. Once all the categories have been opened in full, someone will be crowned the winner, but not without a lot of fun and light-hearted arguments along the way.

Other Game Platforms

There are other platforms that allow you to set up Jeopardy games in a similar way to Jeopardy Labs. You might choose to experiment with Sporcle, a large trivia questions site with a Jeopardy section.

Factile is a dedicated jeopardy style quiz site which allows you create your own quizzes and access thousands of quizzes by other users, similar to Jeopardy labs. Factile is free to access initially but they also have paid membership options with increased benefits. It is more focused on education and allows for creation of individual and communal revision tools, memory games and flash cards as well as the Jeopardy template. This makes Factile a great option for breaking up studying and making learning more fun!

You can create Jeopardy games as well as fun revision games in Factile