The Art of the Trivia Question
Learn to craft questions that spark 'Aha!' moments and host trivia rounds that keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
Like Duolingo, but for The Art of the Trivia Question. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 9 levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Crafting the 'Aha!' Moment and Hosting and Game Flow. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Art of the Trivia Question
- Workable questions include contextual hints like famous contemporaries or related historical events
- Purely factual questions create a 'you know it or you don't' dead end
- Deduction relies on connecting multiple smaller clues to narrow down a single answer
- Placing the 'pin' (the main clue) early allows the brain to start searching its memory
- The most obscure clues should come first to build tension
- The most recognizable clue should appear just before the final ask
- Identifying a 'workable' question that allows for deduction
- Structuring a question to place clues before the final reveal
- Ending with the 'ask' signals the exact moment the team can stop listening and start discussing
- Binary questions (Yes/No) provide a 50/50 chance that discourages actual knowledge sharing
- Placing the 'ask' in the middle of a sentence causes players to miss subsequent clues while they start thinking
- Great trivia questions should spark debate or 'wait, I think it's...' conversations among teammates
- Rote memorization only tests the ability to recall a specific isolated fact
- Lateral thinking questions connect two seemingly unrelated fields (e.g., cars and literature)
- Satisfying questions provide a 'lightbulb moment' when the connection is made
- Distinguishing between rote memorization and lateral thinking questions
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Art of the Trivia Question the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Why might a question asking for a specific, isolated year be frustrating for a trivia team?
Get it right to open this lesson and 8 more in the app.
Where The Art of the Trivia Question takes you
- 1
Crafting the 'Aha!' Moment
- The Anatomy of a Great Question
- Writing for Engagement
- 2
Hosting and Game Flow
- Building a Balanced Round
2 sections · 3 units · 9 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
The Art of the Trivia Question is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Art of the Trivia Question today.
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