TriviaLab is a multiplayer image-based trivia game where players race to type the correct answer before the timer runs out. Each round an image is shown with a question and the faster you answer correctly, the more points you earn. It can be played solo or in groups, works in your browser on all devices, and takes under 30 seconds to get into a game. This guide covers how rooms work, how points are counted, and a few things worth knowing before you jump in.

Getting Into a Room

You either create a room from the homepage or join one with a room code someone shares with you. Once everyone's in the lobby, the host picks TriviaLab from the game selector. Before the first round starts, the host can open the options menu to choose which question packs are active. Worth doing if you want to control which topics come up.

No account needed. Pick a username, pick a colour and emoji, and you're good.

What Happens Each Round

Every round an image shows on everyone's screen with a question underneath it. You type your answer into the submission box and submit before time runs out.

There's a timer bar everyone can see draining in real time. By default the time to answer is 20 seconds, but this can be increased or decreased in the game options. When the timer hits zero the round will end, regardless if all players answered correctly yet.

The answer matching is pretty forgiving. It handles different capitalisation, strips symbols, and normalises accented characters, so typing "sao paulo" when the answer is "São Paulo" will still get marked correct. Singular and plural are treated the same too, so "dog" and "dogs" both work.

One thing to know: if your answer is wrong, it shows in the chat for everyone. So your failed guesses are public. It makes things funnier but also means you can accidentally give hints to other players, so watch out!

How Points Work

Not everyone who answers correctly gets the same amount. The first person to get it right scores 10 points. After that the pool goes down with each correct answer, based on how many people have already answered and how much time has passed. The minimum is 1 point, so even if you're last you still get something.

Being consistently fast adds up. If you're usually getting it in the first few seconds and other players are taking most of the timer, you'll build a gap even if everyone's accuracy is similar.

The Reveal Screen

After the timer runs out (or everyone answers correctly), the answer is revealed along with a quick round summary. Badges are handed out for round achievements such as fastest answer, answering correctly multiple rounds in a row, or getting it in under two seconds. They don't change your score, but they're a good signal for where you're doing well or falling behind.

The winner (fastest to answer correctly) in the round gets to choose between two options for next round's pack (type of question). It pays to be first!

Packs and Categories

Questions come from packs that are organised by category. The host sets which ones are active before the game. If one person in your group has an obvious edge in a particular topic, the host can just disable that pack. You can enable one pack, a combination of multiple, or all of them.

A Few Tips

Don't spam random guesses. Wrong answers go into the chat, and if you type something like "Golden Gate" and it's wrong, you've just narrowed it down for everyone else.

Even if you have no clue, throw something in during the last second or two. The fuzzy matching sometimes surprises you, and 1 point is better than nothing.

Check which packs are on before the game starts. If you see geography is loaded, spend the lobby thinking about countries and capitals instead of zoning out.

That's pretty much it. Rounds are fast and the scoring means a lead can disappear quickly if someone goes on a streak. Good luck.