The Initials Game Live Hosting Guide

Everything you need to know to run the coolest new trivia game in town. 

Game Overview

What is The Initials Game Live?

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The Initials Game Live (known internally as IGL) is a fast-paced live trivia game, played by teams or individuals in a bar or taproom setting, that offers a new twist on traditional pub trivia. 

Given a two-letter set of initials and a series of short but increasingly helpful clues, players use their phones to submit two-word answers that adhere to the given initials. Critically, only one answer may be submitted for each item. The sooner a correct answer is submitted, the more points that player/team receives. Incorrect answers receive 0 points.  

Initials Game Live is based on The Initials Game, a weekly radio game show that has been played on the "Power Trip Morning Show" on the Twin Cities sports radio station KFAN since 2014. Trivia Mafia developed the live version of the game in 2024 in partnership with KFAN host Cory Cove, the game's inventor. 

Game Overview

Every answer in an IGL round uses the same two-letter set of initials. These answers (known as "Items") can be just about anything: a person's name, the title of a movie, or simply a concept. For example, a "TM" round could include such items as "Tobey Maguire," "Thin Mints," "Total Mayhem," or "Trivia Mafia."  

Players are given a series of six short clues about each item. The sooner a player identifies the correct answer, the more points they receive.

Gameplay

20240418-initialsgamelive-beta-44.jpg Initials Game Live is played on smartphones or other internet-enabled devices via the IGL web app

Prior to the start of a round, the host reveals the initials that will be in play for that round. Once a round has begun, a series of clues will begin to appear on the player's screen. At the same time, a 1500-point timer will begin counting down at a rate of 10 points per second. The in-game audio also begins to play at this point. 

Clues begin vague and obscure, and grow gradually more obvious. Once the player submits a correct answer, they are awarded the number of points shown on the timer at the time of their submission. 

Crucially: Players are only allowed to submit one answer per item. If that answer is wrong, they receive zero points and are out of the game until the next item. 

Game Breakdown

A round of IGL consists of five items. Each item contains six clues. A typical game is three rounds (15 items). 

Clues are revealed at 25-second intervals. The total run-time of each item is 2 minutes 30 seconds, and a complete round (with scoring breaks, leaderboard updates, and host banter) takes roughly 20 minutes. With 10-minutes breaks between rounds, a full game should take approximately 90 minutes. 

Prizes

All Trivia Mafia/Initials Game Live venues are required to offer prizes with a minimum combined cash value of $60.
For IGL, this typically means three $20 gift cards.  

Prizes are awarded at the end of each round to the team/player with the highest score for that round. Players and hosts can track their score throughout the round on the Leaderboard tab of the web app. 

If available, additional supplemental prizes may be awarded at the host's discretion. For example, a free beer token might be awarded to the team with the highest single-item score in a given round. Or a free drink could be awarded to the team with the best name, as chosen by the host. This helps spread the wealth and keeps players engaged even if another player/team is clearly dominating the scoreboard. 

Next: How to Host Initials Game Live >

How to Host Initials Game Live

So you want to be an Initials Game Live host? Great choice! This guide, and the pages that follow, will outline everything you'll need to know to become a successful IGL host. 

Before You Arrive

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First, your pregame checklist

If you do not have any app instruction cards or you're running low, reach out to Chuck (chuck@triviamafia.com) or Sam (sam@triviamafia.com) right away to get more. You can also order more when you fill out your host feedback. 

Set-Up & Pre-Game

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Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Donec venenatis interdum metus vitae laoreet. Curabitur maximus iaculis lacus quis tempor. Fusce nec placerat mauris. Mauris convallis sodales arcu. Vivamus vel ipsum volutpat, tincidunt magna non, vulputate ante. Phasellus iaculis odio erat, eu ultricies nulla luctus ut. Sed volutpat dui nec porta dictum.

Run of Show 

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Example Scripts

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Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Donec venenatis interdum metus vitae laoreet. Curabitur maximus iaculis lacus quis tempor. Fusce nec placerat mauris. Mauris convallis sodales arcu. Vivamus vel ipsum volutpat, tincidunt magna non, vulputate ante. Phasellus iaculis odio erat, eu ultricies nulla luctus ut. Sed volutpat dui nec porta dictum.

Running the Game

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Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Donec venenatis interdum metus vitae laoreet. Curabitur maximus iaculis lacus quis tempor. Fusce nec placerat mauris. Mauris convallis sodales arcu. Vivamus vel ipsum volutpat, tincidunt magna non, vulputate ante. Phasellus iaculis odio erat, eu ultricies nulla luctus ut. Sed volutpat dui nec porta dictum.

Aenean euismod scelerisque tellus eget feugiat. Donec tincidunt dictum urna, id faucibus nulla fermentum eu. Fusce sed blandit nulla. Proin vitae risus aliquet, lobortis neque non, venenatis ipsum. Morbi fermentum pellentesque tempus. Proin sagittis magna ex, sed ornare mauris cursus nec. Sed tincidunt, libero sollicitudin hendrerit fringilla, tortor nulla blandit ante, sed gravida purus mi eu eros.

End of Game & Prizes

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Not Done Yet! The Host Feedback Form

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Next: The Initials Game Live App >

The Initials Game Live App

The Initials Game Live web app is located at play.initialsgamelive.com. It can also be accessed from the home page at initialsgamelive.com

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The Initials Game Live app is a web app developed by Trivia Mafia that facilitates playing The Initials Game. 

As with the Trivia Mafia app, the Initials Game Live app is a web app, rather than a native app. This means it is essentially a web page and does not require anyone (host or player) to download or install any apps or software. You can simply navigate to the app using a browser on any internet-connected device. 

The following guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to use the Initials Game Live app while hosting an IGL event. 


Step 1: Logging In and Creating a Game

All users with hosting permissions should see a Host button when they login at play.initialsgamelive.com. To begin your game, just hit that button! 

If you have not yet created an account at play.initialsgamelive.com, you'll need to do that first. 

If you have an account but you do not see a Host button, you need your hosting permissions updated. Please contact Chuck (chuck@triviamafia.com). 

To Create a Game: 

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Step 2: Starting the Game

Once you've created a new game, you will be shown the game's join code. Share this code with your players. 

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Note: The Initials Game Live app generates game content randomly based on which players are currently signed into the game. This way, we can guarantee that players will never see repeated content. For this reason, hosts will not know in advance which initials will be played in a given game. This also means that multiple games played simultaneously on any given night will all contain content unique to those games.

This is very different from Trivia Mafia Classic, where all quizzes on a given night use the same content. 

Private events running Initials Game Live are set up in advance, so those hosts will know their initials prior to the game.

Step 3: Running the Game

You will now see the game's first set of initials, or "Round 1." 

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Step 4: Scoring and Updating the Leaderboard

Scoring is handled automatically by the app!

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Navigating Within the App

Navigating the app is very simple and intuitive. Here are a couple of helpful pointers to help hosts and players find their way around!


In-App Audio

Using the in-app audio while hosting Initials Game Live is highly recommended!

The in-app audio adds an atmosphere of tension and drama to the game, drowns out players' voices as they mull over potential answers with teammates, and includes countdown cues to alert players (and hosts) whenever new clues are about to be revealed.

To use the audio: First make sure the device you're using to  run the game is plugged into a Trivia Mafia PA or the venue's house sound system. 

Note: It is possible for multiple hosts to log into a single game simultaneously from multiple devices. If you do this for any reason, make sure the device used to started the game is the one that's connected to the sound system. This is the device that should be used to start each item as well. Other devices can be used to read clues, check scoring, etc. 

Other notes about using audio:

Next: Tips & FAQ >

Tips & FAQ

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Aenean euismod scelerisque tellus eget feugiat. Donec tincidunt dictum urna, id faucibus nulla fermentum eu. Fusce sed blandit nulla. Proin vitae risus aliquet, lobortis neque non, venenatis ipsum. Morbi fermentum pellentesque tempus. Proin sagittis magna ex, sed ornare mauris cursus nec. Sed tincidunt, libero sollicitudin hendrerit fringilla, tortor nulla blandit ante, sed gravida purus mi eu eros.

Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Donec venenatis interdum metus vitae laoreet. Curabitur maximus iaculis lacus quis tempor. Fusce nec placerat mauris. Mauris convallis sodales arcu. Vivamus vel ipsum volutpat, tincidunt magna non, vulputate ante. Phasellus iaculis odio erat, eu ultricies nulla luctus ut. Sed volutpat dui nec porta dictum.

Morbi tincidunt felis in felis accumsan, sed volutpat enim viverra. Proin a nunc sapien. Nullam egestas eros sit amet tellus semper, ac pharetra est tincidunt. Etiam eget nisl nulla. Integer tempor augue vitae elit ultricies venenatis. Sed pretium quis purus vitae vestibulum. Fusce nec bibendum orci. Donec rhoncus dolor sit amet justo ullamcorper pellentesque.

 

- game code: where is it? 

Next: The Initials Game Live App >