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?
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
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.
The recommended prize for the winner of each round is a $20 gift card to the game's venue.
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
First, your pregame checklist:
- On the day of your event, double-check the location, travel time, and event time. You are expected to arrive on-site at least 20 minutes prior to the game's start time.
- Make sure you have a stack of IGL instruction cards (pictured at left). These cards help your teams/players navigate to the game website (play.initialsgamelive.com) and create an account. They include a space to write down your game's join code. Make sure you bring a Sharpie to jot down this four-digit code on each card you hand out. (Note: These cards are glossy, so ballpoint pens won't work.)
- Bring the tablet/phone/device you will use to run the game. Make sure it is fully charged. Even if it is, bring an extra charging cable. You will need to plug this device into a sound system; Apple users should keep a dongle handy.
- If you are unfamiliar with the sound system at your venue or other venue-specific particulars, please review the venue's ICOE document.
- If you are DJing music between rounds, make sure you have a playlist ready to go.
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
Hosts are required to arrive at least 20 minutes prior to game time. This ensures plenty of time to get set up and start spreading the word among the customers that Initials Game Live is about to happen. If you suspect your crowd is unfamiliar with this game, give yourself extra time so you can introduce the game to as many people as possible prior to starting. There's plenty to do between your arrival and when you hit "Start" on the app!
You've arrived — now what?
- Connect with the site contact (usually a manager or bartender). Introduce yourself (if you haven't already) and confirm where you should set up shop.
- Ask for the three prizes (usually $20 gift cards) that you'll being giving away during the course of the game. If your site provides additional prizes (free beer tokens, merchandise, etc.), get that as well.
- Plug your device into the house sound system or PA. Remember: This game has an audio component, so you'll need to make sure your device can play audio through the room's speakers.
- Make sure you're connected to the internet.
- Pull up a playlist (if you're DJing music between rounds) and start playing music. Test your audio levels. Test the microphone. (Tip for iPad users who need to use Spotify and a browser at the same time: Use split screen!)
- Pull up a browser window on your device and head to play.initialsgamelive.com. Click "Host" and select your venue, then hit Create a New Game. If you are unfamiliar with how this app works, make sure you've read the app instructions.
- Once you've created a new game, you will be shown that game's join code. Write this code down on about a dozen IGL instruction cards, and begin handing them out to patrons. If players are unfamiliar with the game, let them know how it works, ensuring that it's extremely fun for people of all skill levels. Remind them that it is free to play, and there are prizes for the winners. See below for an example pre-game script.
- Ten minutes before game time, jump on the mic and let everyone know that Initials Game Live will be starting in 10 minutes, and invite curious players to come to you with any questions they may have about the game. Give another announcement five minutes before game time as well. Do one more pass through the room to catch any late stragglers or hesitant players who decided to give it a try.
- Game time: Hit Start the Game.
You're ready to begin!
Run of Show
The Initials Game Live is a faster-paced game than traditional pub-style trivia. Players/hosts who are accustomed to Trivia Mafia Classic may require a few games to adjust to the quicker pace!
Initials Game Live is played over the course of three rounds, with a prize awarded to the winner of each round.
Each round consists of five items. These are the "answers" to each round. They can be a person, a thing, a title, a concept, anything at all. Each item is a two-word phrase, and every item within a round have the same two-letter initials.
Each item contains six clues. These clues are revealed to players at 25-second intervals, at which point they are read aloud by the host. They generally begin vague and tricky, and grow progressively more obvious.
Every round should take around 20 minutes to complete, followed by a 10-minute break. Hosts use this break to deliver the prize to the winning team/player. Players use this break to use the bathroom or order more food and beverages.
A full three-round game, with breaks, should be about 90 minutes long.
The 10-minute break between rounds is important! Players tend to be glued to their seats while an Initials Game Live round is in play. We want to make sure they have plenty of time to order food and beverages between rounds.
Example schedule (6:30 p.m. start)
6:10 - 6:30 Host arrives on site, gets set up, helps players get to the game on their phones.
6:30 - 6:35 Host welcomes players, explains the game, and announces first set of initials for Round 1.
6:35 - 6:50 Round 1.
6:50 - 7:00 Break. Host hands out prize for Round 1, announces Round 2 will start in 10 minutes.
7:00 - 7:20 Round 2
7:20 - 7:30 Break. Host hands out prize for Round 2, announces Round 3 will start in 10 minutes.
7:30 - 7:50 Round 3
7:50 - 8:00 Wrap up. Host announces scores, awards Round 3 prize. Thanks to the venue, get home safe!
8:00 - 8:10 Pack up and complete Host Feedback.
Example Scripts
Pre-Game (introducing the game to a new team):
"Hi there! Would you like to play a trivia game tonight? We're playing The Initials Game Live. It's a super fun, fast-paced game where you enter the answers into your phone, and the sooner you get the right answer in, the more points you get.
It's called "The Initials Game" because I'll give you two-letter initials of each answer, plus a bunch of clues that will eventually lead you to that answer. You only get to submit one answer per item, though, so you have to be careful.
Each round is 20 minutes, and we're giving away $20 gift cards to the winner of each round. It's free to play! Just scan this QR code, follow these simple instructions, and enter this code when prompted.
You can play solo or with a team. Only one device per team, though. I'm your host tonight so just let me know if you have any questions.
Good luck!"
Pre-Game (announcing the rules):
"Are you ready to play Initials Game Live? Great, because the game is about to begin!
The rules are simple: I'm going to give you a two-letter set of initials, followed by a series of clues that will help you identify a mystery item with those initials. It could be anything: maybe it's a person, maybe a movie title, maybe an object, whatever. The sooner you identify the item, the more points you get. BUT: If you submit a wrong answer, you get zero points and you're out until the next item.
We'll play five items per round. The winner of each round gets a $20 gift card to [Venue Name]. Give it up for [Venue name]! What an awesome place. And don't forget to tip your bartenders and servers! OK, let's reveal the initials for Round 1... "
Mid-Game:
There are a variety of shout-outs and conversation points a host can/should touch on throughout the game, to keep things lively and fill time. These include:
- Thanking the venue's staff and encouraging patrons to tip generously. Always do this at least once per night! The staff will appreciate you, and your venue's staff are the successful trivia host's number-one allies.
- Congratulating players/teams on their scores throughout the game.
- Hosts can toggle between the game tab and the scoring tab in the app during a round to watch answer submissions as they are entered. This is endless fodder for commentary. "Team X is in with the first correct answer!" always plays well, because that team will invariably cheer while the rest of the teams groan to learn that someone else has gotten it before them.
Post-Game:
- Remind players that The Initials Game Live is played every week at your location (usually — check the schedule to be sure), and invite them to come back next week and bring friends.
- Shout out initialsgamelive.com, where players can find a full schedule of Initials Game Live locations.
Not Done Yet! The Host Feedback Form
The Host Feedback Form is a requirement of every hosting at Trivia Mafia! This includes Initials Game Live as well as Trivia Mafia Classic.
You are required to fill out your Host Feedback within 24 hours of your shift. This form allows us to track turnout rates at all of our events, collect photos of winning teams for our online slideshows, and, most importantly, it gives our hosts a direct line of communication with the Trivia Mafia administrative team, so we can be immediately made aware of any notes or issues our hosts may have regarding their Trivia Mafia Classic quizzes, Theme Nights, or Initials Game Live nights.
The Host Feedback Form is located at hosts.triviamafia.com
Password: FeedMe
For Initials Game Live, your Host Feedback will include the following:
- Your name, your venue, and the date of the event
- Photos of all winning teams/players (make sure to ask before you take their photos whether they would mind us posting them on the internet). The best time to take these photos is immediately after awarding the prizes at the end of each round.
- Winning scores.
- The number of "Entity Entries" (i.e. players/teams appearing on the leaderboard)
- The average numbers of players per team
- The initials used in your game
- Any editorial notes relating to the items and/or clues in your game.
- Checkboxes to check if you need more app cards or posters at your site
- Any other notes you have about event — successes, failures, hiccups, audio problems, bugs in the app, funny moments, brilliant ideas — this is your time to let us know your thoughts. Remember: All feedback is reviewed by the Powers That Be, as well as the Editorial staff, the Host Manager, and the Marketing department on Tuesdays. If there's something personal or sensitive that you'd rather not share with more than a dozen people, please email Brenna, Chuck, or Mary Kate directly.
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.
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:
- First select your venue from the dropdown at the top of the page.
- If you are using the in-app audio, make sure you unmute the Use Audio? button. (Using the in-app audio is highly recommended! See below.)
- Then click Create a New Game.
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.
- Once a player/team joins the game using the join code you've provided, their screen name will appear on this page, in the order that they've joined.
- Once all players have joined the game, click Start the Game. This will generate the game's first set of initials.
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."
- Each round will consist of five Items, all sharing the same two-letter initials. In the example below, the Round 1 initials are CS, and the first item is Colonel Sanders.
Note: Clicking Peek at Answer will show you the answer without revealing anything to players.
- Click Start to begin the game. The score-timer at the top of the screen will begin counting down from 1500 in deciseconds (1 point every 1/10 second), and the in-app audio will begin to play.
- Each item contains six clues, revealed at 25-second intervals.
- Hosts read the clues as they are revealed. The audio will prompt you whenever a new clue is about to be revealed. You will hear "Clue number one" as the first clue is revealed; this is your cue to read Clue 1. For every subsequent clue, you will hear five beeps prior to each clue reveal, followed by "Clue number 2," etc.
- Hitting the Pause button will pause the game, meaning the score-time will stop counting down, the audio will pause, and the players' answer fields will become inactive.
The Pause button is for emergencies only! It is our hope that you will never have to use it.
- Players are shown the clues on their devices as they are revealed:
- The clues are designed to begin obscure and confusing, and grow progressively easier.
- Once a player submits a correct answer, they receive the number of points shown on the score-timer when they hit "Submit."
- If their submitted answer is wrong, players receive zero points and are out until the next item.
- When a submitted answer is correct, players see a check mark:
- When a submitted answer is wrong, players see a red X:
- After the item's timer runs out, players are shown the correct answer:
- Once the fifth item in a round is complete, the host may create a new round simply by clicking Create Another Round.
Step 4: Scoring and Updating the Leaderboard
Scoring is handled automatically by the app!
- As players submit their answers, those answers will begin to appear on the Host's app in the Scoring tab.
- As with the Trivia Mafia app, all answers are automatically marked "Correct" or "Incorrect" by the app as they are submitted. Hosts may override the app's scoring decisions as necessary. In the example below, the answer was "Nicolas Cage," and the app didn't recognize "Nic Cage" as a correct answer. The host simply hits Tap to Adjust to fix this.
- While answers are coming in, the host may want to use this opportunity to call out teams/players who've gotten the item correct ("Looks like Susie B is in with the right answer! Nice work!") or teams who missed the mark ("Sorry Jeff, but that's another miss. Better luck on the next item!") Be sure to always be courteous, and never accidentally reveal a correct (or incorrect) answer. (e.g. don't say, "Sorry Jeff, but 'cheese sandwich' is incorrect.")
- After each item is complete, double-check the scoring, and then hit Update Leaderboard.
- On the Host side, the Leaderboard tab displays the leaderboard in two ways: by Round, and by Game.
- The Round view will show you the standing for the selected round. Use the arrows in the top navigation (next to the initials blocks) to view the standings for other rounds.
- The Game view will show you the standings for the entire game (ie all rounds combined). This is particularly handy for private events that wish to award prizes to overall winners.
- For regular games, however, prizes are awarded to winners of each round.
- Hosts are also shown the Highest Item Score. In the Round view, this is the highest single-item score in each round; in the Game view, it's the highest single-item score of the entire game.
Navigating Within the App
- The app will automatically move users to new items as play begins. To view previous items items, players or hosts on mobile devices can swipe left and right. Additionally, tapping the round block at the top of the screen (the square displaying the round's initials) will toggle through that round's items.
- For both hosts and players, the top navigation bar is also how you can navigate from round to round. To move to another round, simply tap the left or right arrows as needed.
- The bottom navigation tabs allow players to switch between the Game screen and the Leaderboard screen.
- Hosts have an additional tab at the bottom of their screens for Scoring.
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:
- There is a mute button on the host's main game screen. Use this to mute the audio if necessary.
- You can adjust the app volume in the menu (the lower-right corner icon). Note that you can also adjust the volume using your device volume control, but this will also affect your music levels if you are playing music on the same device.
- The audio is linked to the score-counter. If you need to reload the game page for any reason, the score-counter will continue running, even if the host is no longer on the app. When the host returns to the app or reloads the page, the audio will still be synced to wherever the score-counter is (i.e. the music won't start over from the beginning).
- Use your device's volume or the PA/house mixing board to adjust the volume of the in-app audio.
- If you would like to play any music between rounds, you may do so from the same device you're using to run the Initials Game Live app.
Next: Tips & FAQ >
Tips & FAQ
Coming soon....