Trivia games like Thousand Dollar Minute are only as good as the questions. Seriously. Games must have a strong premise, structure, variety, and rhythm, but your ability to write great trivia questions makes or breaks it. Great questions drive the pace. They create suspense, control the budget, and hook listeners who are playing along with the contestant.
How To Write Great Trivia Questions
This guide to writing questions for games applies to every game you play, but for demonstration purposes, we’ll focus on how to write great trivia questions for Thousand Dollar Minute.
First, match the question to the intended length of the game. In this case, the game lasts 60 seconds (a minute) and there are 10 questions. As a result, the questions should be fairly tight, since each question should be asked an answered in an average of six seconds.
Think of each question like a well-tuned instrument. Avoid long setups, multi-step logic, or questions that need too much explanation.
Bad Example:
“In the early 1800s, this French military leader famously marched his troops into Russia before being defeated by the winter and ultimately exiled to Elba. Who was he?”
This question takes too long to set up if it’s a fast-paced game. Good:
“What French General lost the Battle of Waterloo?
Note: You can ask longer questions if it’s balanced with some very short ones. For example, a question like, “What’s the opposite of “up”? is easy to ask and answer quickly. You can then ask a longer question next.
Be Clear
Avoid phrasing that could confuse or slow players down. If a contestant is confused, the listening audience will be, too. So pay special attention to how you phrase your questions.
Bad:
“Name the only state that doesn’t have any of the following: a straight border, access to the ocean, or more than two syllables.”
This is very difficult to picture. You’re making the audience do too much mental homework. Here’s a better way to phrase it:
“Which U.S. state has just two syllables and no coastline? (Answer: Kansas)”
That’s a great combination because it will take a contestant longer to come up with their answer, which is an important consideration when preserving your budget.
One Correct Answer
Ambiguity leads to disputes and lost momentum. Proofread every question to ensure there is only one correct answer.
Bad:
“What celebrity couple broke up this week?”
This is not only vague, “celebrity” can be disputed, and there could be several in a given week.
Better:
“Ben Affleck filed for divorce from which actress this week?”
