How to host a family Jeopardy night

By the Hangtime Games team · October 23, 2026

Trivia night is the easiest family game night to sell, because nobody needs the rules explained. Everyone has watched Jeopardy. “I'll take Grandpa's Stories for 400” basically runs itself.

1. Pick your categories

Six categories is the classic board, but three or four is plenty for a family night. A good mix:

• Two general-knowledge categories (geography, animals, movies)
• One that suits the youngest players (cartoons, “finish the nursery rhyme”)
• One that suits the oldest (music from their era, old TV shows)
• One about your own family

2. Write a category about your family

This is always the highlight. Five clues, worth more as they get harder:

• “This is the city where Mom and Dad met.”
• “This was the name of our first dog.”
• “Grandpa has told this story at every dinner since 1998.”

On Hangtime you can write your own category in a couple of minutes, free, and it drops into the Trivia Board alongside the built-in ones.

3. Sort out buzzers

The fairest buzzer is a phone: on Trivia Board, everyone gets a big Buzz button on their phone and the TV shows who was first. Without phones, use a bell or have people slap the table.

4. Make it fair for mixed ages

• Play in teams: pair a kid with a grandparent.
• Let the youngest player pick first.
• Be generous with “in the form of a question”. Nobody needs a ruling on “Who is” versus “What is” at a family table.

5. Add the drama

Hide a Daily Double: only the person who picks it plays, and they bet first. Keep score on the TV so everyone can see the comeback happening. Trivia Board does both automatically, and skips clues your group has already seen next time.