How to host a trivia night for two on the couch

A trivia night usually needs a host, a score sheet and someone who doesn’t mind not playing. With two people, nobody wants that job. Here’s how to skip it.

Pick a topic you’ll both lose at

If one of you follows sports and the other doesn’t, sports is over before it starts. Pick something neither of you owns. Everyday stuff works well: brand names, food, the gadgets in your bag. You’ll both think you know it, and you’ll both be wrong in interesting ways.

Agree what’s at stake first

Do this before the first question, while everyone still feels confident. Keep it small and doable tonight: the loser picks up dinner, the winner chooses the movie, the loser sings something the winner picks.

Keep rounds short

Five or ten questions is plenty. A short round ends while you still want another one. Long quizzes turn into homework around question fifteen.

Argue about the answer

The best part of trivia for two isn’t the score. It’s “wait, really?” Read the explanation out loud when one of you is surprised. If you end up looking something else up, that’s the night going well.

Let the phone do the hosting

Touché was built for this. In Face-Off, you put one phone flat on the table and each of you gets half the screen, facing you. In Call Your Shot, you answer, hand the phone across, and they have to match you. It keeps the score and shows the why after every question, so nobody has to sit out.