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Pub quiz software for hosts

Run the whole pub quiz from one laptop

The desk for the quizmaster, the quiz on the TV, and every team playing on their phones. No paper, no marking by hand, and it works with or without internet.

Download free See how it works

Create for free. Go Pro to host. Players never pay.

Playing, not hosting? Find a quiz near you →

How it works

A quiz night on three screens, from one laptop

Open BeerMat on the laptop, put the quiz on the TV, and teams join by scanning the code. Everyone’s looking at something different.

  1. 1On the telly

    The quiz on the big screen

    The question, the clock and a QR code to join, big enough for the back of the room. A second screen, a projector, the pub’s TV, or another computer wired to the TVs.

  2. 2On every table

    Teams play on a phone

    Heads together round one phone, then a tap to answer. They play in the browser: no app, no account, no sign-up.

  3. 3Behind the bar

    You run it from the desk

    The next question is one big button. Answers are marked as they arrive, and you see which teams are in. Walking the room? Run the night from the BeerMat app on your phone.

The big reveal

The groan, the cheer, the leaderboard

  • The answer goes up on the TV after a drum roll, with how the room voted.
  • The fastest right answers get a shout-out, and a speed bonus if you want one.
  • At the end of a round, the scores go up one place at a time, from the bottom.

Run the night

Host from your phone, anywhere in the room

The BeerMat app on Android and iPhone runs the quiz on the laptop: start the next question, close answers, reveal with a drum roll, play the clips and keep an eye on the leaderboard. The laptop keeps the TV and the sound; marking and settings stay on its desk.

Sign in with your venue’s BeerMat account, or type the code the desk shows. It works on the quiz Wi-Fi or the pub’s own.

Round formats

More than questions and answers

Every format plays on the phones teams already have. Here are a few, as teams see them.

  • Word trail

    Trace the answer through a grid of letters

  • Pinpoint

    Tap the spot on the picture

  • Letter tiles

    Rebuild the answer from the tiles

  • Sequence

    Put them in the right order

  • Buzz-in

    First to buzz answers out loud

  • Bingo

    A ticket on every phone; shout BINGO!

All 25 formats

See every format, and how it plays

Ways to play them

  • Picture reveals
  • Wagers
  • VAR Check
  • Send Question
  • Six fixed buttons
  • Questions on the fly
  • Reaction table
  • Fast Track
  • Rollover jackpots
  • Team groups
  • Slides between rounds
  • Speed bingo
  • Wipeout
  • Risk It
  • Secret rounds
  • Tie-breakers
A picture under twelve tiles, going one by one as the clock runs down
Buzzers: the first team in takes the TV, a wrong answer passes it to the next, then the answer and who scored
Music bingo’s reaction table: the quickest teams to dab the song
Fast Track: a team straight into first place
The same picture reveal on a team’s phone
Dabbing the song on a music bingo ticket
  • Picture reveals: a picture starts blurred, or under twelve tiles, and shows itself as the clock runs down. The quicker you guess, the less you saw.
  • Send Question: the question waits on the TV while you read it out; phones get it, and the clock starts, when you send it.
  • Six fixed buttons: multiple choice always shows A–F on phones, so nobody can tell the last option before you read it.
  • Questions on the fly: ask one that isn’t in the quiz, and set its answer once answers close.
  • Reaction table: in music bingo, teams dab the song as soon as they know it; the quickest go up on the TV.
  • Fast Track and wheels: put a team straight into first place, or spin for it; team wheels, random numbers and rollover jackpots that grow every week.

Plus fastest-finger bonuses, table numbers for the room, and a report of how each question went.

Why BeerMat

Made for a Tuesday night in a busy pub

For the things that go wrong on the night: patchy Wi-Fi, a laptop that restarts, a room that can’t hear the question.

The Library

No time to write a quiz this week?

Library, on the desk’s left rail, holds ready-made quizzes, buzzer sounds and themes from BeerMat and other BeerMat pubs. Browse it on any plan; with BeerMat Pro, download what you like and share your own.

  • Quizzes: see each one’s rounds and formats, then download and load it in one click, pictures and sounds included. The questions stay a surprise until you do.
  • Buzzers: short sounds for every team to pick from, shared by pubs.
  • Themes: dress the TV and the teams’ phones for the night, from Halloween to your pub’s own colours.
  • Every quiz and theme is checked by BeerMat before other pubs see it.

Free, with no limits

Rehearse the whole quiz before the room fills

Build your quiz, then run it start to finish with simulated teams answering on the real quiz engine. Every format, every timer, the marking, the buzzers and the leaderboard, on the TV.

  • Simulated teams

    Up to thirty, right or wrong as often as you like, answering by themselves or when you tell them.

  • Test the Wi-Fi with real phones

    Scan the code with your own phones: they connect and show “Connection successful”, but can’t play.

  • Try what goes wrong

    Late answers, double taps, teams dropping out and coming back, buzzer races.

  • A preflight check

    Missing pictures, a full disk, the Wi-Fi and the network, checked in plain English.

Pricing

Create for free. Go Pro to host.

Build and rehearse your whole quiz for nothing, phones and TV included. One simple price for your venue when real teams play: no per-night credits and no per-player charges. Players always play free.

BeerMat Free

£0

Create, prepare and rehearse.

  • Unlimited quizzes, questions and rounds
  • Every round format
  • Rehearsals with simulated teams and real scoring
  • The TV and projector, to test the show
  • Real phones join to test the Wi-Fi and the QR code

Not included: live quizzes with real teams playing. Phones can connect in a rehearsal, but can’t play.

Download free
For quiz nights

BeerMat Pro

£19.99 a month

or £199 a year (two months free)

Founding venues: the first 20 to pay keep £14.99 a month (£149 a year) for life.

  • Everything in Free
  • Host live quizzes: real teams, real answers and buzzers
  • Live scoring and leaderboards, as many teams as the room holds
  • Your pub and quiz nights on the BeerMat map
  • The quiz library: ready-made quizzes to download and run
  • The shared buzzer library
  • The theme library: Halloween and more looks for the TV and phones
  • Help by email when you need it
  • Works offline once activated; cancel any time from the desk
Try Pro free for 14 days

No card needed to start

Not right for your pub? Email us within 30 days of your first payment and we’ll refund it in full. Rather we set it up? We’ll do it with you for £75. How BeerMat compares with a quiz company, paper and a microphone, and other quiz systems.

For players

Playing, not hosting?

Find a quiz near you on the map, or get the BeerMat app to keep your results and earn badges.

Find a quiz For players

Use ← → to move between screenshots and clips, Esc to close.