User Guide

Everything you need to know to run a great QuizCast night.

What is QuizCast?

QuizCast is a real-time multiplayer quiz platform built for pubs, offices, events, and home entertainment. It combines a TV display, a mobile controller, and an online studio into one seamless experience — no clickers, no paper, no faff.

The host creates quizzes in the web dashboard, runs the game from their phone, and everyone in the room plays along on their own device. The TV screen handles the rest — displaying questions, timers, leaderboards, and an AI-powered host voice that reads everything out loud.

The Three Apps

QuizCast is a system of three applications that work in sync. You are currently inside the Dashboard.

TV App

The big-screen display. Open quizcast-tv.web.app in any browser on a TV, laptop, or projector. It is the engine that drives all game state and reads questions aloud.

Mobile App

Available on iOS and Android. The host uses it to start and control games. Players use it as their answer buzzer and input device.

Dashboard (here)

The web studio at quiz-cast.vercel.app. Create, edit, and manage all your quiz packs, branding, and account settings.

How a Game Works: The Full Flow

  1. 1

    Create a Quiz Pack

    In the dashboard, build a pack manually or use the AI generator. Set the question type, difficulty, and region targeting.

  2. 2

    Open the TV App

    On your TV or laptop browser, go to quizcast-tv.web.app. The intro screen will appear with the QuizCast logo.

  3. 3

    Start a Lobby on Your Phone

    Open the mobile app, log in as host, select your pack, and tap Start Game. A 4-digit code appears on the TV.

  4. 4

    Players Join

    Players open the mobile app, tap Join Game, and enter the 4-digit code. Their names appear live on the TV lobby screen.

  5. 5

    Unlock Audio (Important)

    Before starting, press any key on the TV keyboard or remote to unlock audio. Browsers require a user interaction before playing sound.

  6. 6

    Start the Quiz

    The host taps Start on their phone. If Show Rules is enabled, players read the rules first and confirm ready.

  7. 7

    Question Loop

    The TV displays each question and countdown timer while the AI host reads it aloud. Players answer on their phones. Scores update after each round.

  8. 8

    Game Ends

    A podium screen shows the final results. The host can reset to the lobby to play again with a new pack or the same one.

Game Modes

Each game mode has its own pack editor in the dashboard. Modes marked Pro or Ultimate require an active subscription.

Standard Quiz

Free

Classic pub quiz format. Supports multiple-choice and open-text questions. The AI host reads each question and answer options aloud. Suitable for all audiences.

Name the Tune

Pro

The TV plays a music clip (uploaded by you) and players guess the song title or artist. Great for music nights.

Name the Picture

Pro

The TV displays an image and players type what they think it is. Works well for celebrity, landmark, and logo rounds.

Blankety Blank

Pro

Fill-in-the-blank style questions. Players type what they think completes the sentence. Points are awarded for matching the most popular answer.

Blockbusters

Pro

Team vs. team on a hexagonal grid. One team needs to connect top-to-bottom, the other left-to-right. First team to complete a path wins.

Decode

Pro

Cipher and puzzle-based questions. Players must decode a clue to find the hidden answer. Works great as a brain-teaser round.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Ultimate

15 questions of escalating difficulty in the classic TV format. Players have three lifelines: 50/50, Phone a Friend, and Ask the Audience.

Pub Quiz Bundle

Ultimate

Chain multiple rounds of different game modes into one cohesive quiz night. Set each round's mode, question count, and theme independently.

AI Features

AI Question Generator

On the Create page, select a topic (e.g. "Premier League 2024") and the AI will generate a full quiz pack including questions, multiple-choice options, and correct answers. You can also set the difficulty level (Easy, Medium, Hard) and the number of questions.

AI Host Voice

The TV app uses text-to-speech to narrate every question during the game. There are two voice engines available:

  • Standard (Google TTS): Free on all plans. Clear, neutral voice. Available instantly with no setup.
  • Premium (ElevenLabs): Available on Pro and Ultimate. Higher quality, more expressive narration. Can be set to a regional UK or Irish accent.

Pre-Generated Pack Audio

On Pro and Ultimate plans, you can pre-generate all audio for a pack before the game starts. This means the TV reads questions instantly with no wait time mid-game. To do this, open your pack in the editor and use the Generate Audio option.

Regional AI Host Voices

On Pro and Ultimate plans, you can choose a regional UK or Irish accent for your AI host. The voice plays on the TV screen when questions are read aloud.

How to Set Your Voice Region

  1. Go to Settings → Profile & Defaults.
  2. Scroll to the AI Host Voice Region section.
  3. Pick your region from the dropdown (e.g. Yorkshire, Liverpool, Scottish).
  4. Click Save Profile. The change takes effect in your next game session.

Available Regional Voices

Yorkshire

David — Warm, trustworthy Northern voice

Liverpool

James — Scouse lilt, lively energy

Newcastle

Millie — Geordie, friendly and clear

Cornwall

Pirate Marshal — West Country with character

Scottish

Isla Skye — Soft and warm Scottish tone

Irish

Thomas — Natural Irish narration

If no region is set, the TV app uses your selected voice engine (Standard or Premium) with its default accent.

Global Settings Explained

Settings are split into four tabs. Changes here apply as defaults to every new game session — you can always override them in the mobile app during a live game.

Profile & Defaults

Display Name
Your name shown on the TV screen during the intro and in the host remote. Does not affect your login email.
Default Region
Sets the content targeting for the AI question generator. Choosing "UK" means AI-generated questions use UK spelling, references, and cultural context. This does NOT affect the host voice accent — that is the Voice Region setting below.
Default Difficulty
Pre-fills the difficulty dropdown when you create a new AI-generated quiz. You can override it per pack.
Voice Engine
Toggle between Standard (Google, free) and Premium (ElevenLabs, Pro+). Premium voices are richer and more expressive. The switch applies to live TTS during the game.
AI Host Voice Region
Sets a regional UK or Irish accent for ElevenLabs TTS. Saves to your player profile and is picked up automatically when you start a game. Only active when Voice Engine is set to Premium.

TV Branding

Logo
Upload your pub, company, or event logo. It appears on the TV intro screen before the game begins and on the lobby screen.
Welcome Message
Custom text shown on the TV lobby screen while players are joining. Great for venue branding or sponsor messages.

Game Rules

Fastest Finger Bonus
Awards +0.5 points to the first player who answers correctly on each question. Adds excitement but can favour fast typers on phones.
Points System
Switch between Standard (1 point per correct answer) and Speed-Weighted (more points for answering faster within the timer window).
Profanity Filter
When on, player names containing common profanity are blocked at the join screen.
Default Question Timer
Sets the default countdown timer (in seconds) for each question. You can override this per-question in the pack editor.
Show Rules Screen
When enabled, the TV displays the game rules before the first question and waits for players to confirm they are ready. Use Force Start on your phone to skip this.
Show Leaderboard
Controls whether the live leaderboard sidebar is visible on the TV during questions.

Lead Generation

Require Email to Join
When enabled, players must enter an email address before they can join the game. Emails are stored and can be exported as a CSV from this tab.
Export Leads CSV
Downloads all collected player emails as a spreadsheet, including player name, email, session code, and date. Useful for post-event follow-up or mailing lists.

TV Screen Overview

The TV app cycles through several screens during a game night:

Intro Screen

Shown when the TV app first loads. Displays the QuizCast logo (or your custom logo) and a welcome message. Players will see this when they first walk in.

Lobby Screen

Shows the 4-digit join code, a QR code, and the list of players who have joined. Remains visible until the host starts the game.

Rules Screen

Optional. Displays the game rules. Players must tap Ready on their phones before the quiz begins. The host can skip this with Force Start.

Question Screen

Shows the current question, countdown timer, and live leaderboard. The AI host reads the question and answer options aloud.

Intermission Screen

Shown between questions. Reveals who got it right and updates the scores.

Podium Screen

Final screen at the end of the game showing the top 3 players. The host can reset to lobby to play again.

Subscription Tiers

QuizCast has three tiers. Upgrade inside the mobile app or at the Subscriptions page on the dashboard.

Standard — Free

  • Standard Quiz mode
  • Google TTS host voice
  • AI question generation
  • Up to 8 players on leaderboard

Pro — Venue Pro

  • All Standard features
  • ElevenLabs Premium voice
  • Regional UK & Irish accents
  • Name the Tune, Picture, Blockbusters
  • Blankety Blank, Decode modes
  • Pre-generated pack audio
  • Custom TV branding & logo
  • Lead generation & email capture

Ultimate — Studio

  • All Pro features
  • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
  • Pub Quiz Bundle (multi-round)
  • Voice cloning
  • Full white-labelling
  • Advanced analytics

Host Controls During a Live Game

Once a game is running, the host remote on the mobile app shows these controls:

Next Question
Advances to the next question. The TV plays the AI voice and starts the countdown.
Pause / Resume
Freezes the countdown timer on the TV. All players see a pause indicator. Resume restarts the timer from where it left off.
Force Start
Skips the rules screen if players are slow to confirm ready.
Voice Button
Cycles between Standard (Google), Premium (ElevenLabs), and Cloned voice options mid-game. Requires the respective tier.
Fastest Finger Toggle
Can be turned on or off per-game without affecting your saved settings.
Play Again / Reset
After the podium screen, returns the TV to the lobby so a new game can start immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Joining & Playing

How do players join the game?

Open the QuizCast mobile app, tap Join Game, and enter the 4-digit code shown on the TV. Alternatively, players can scan the QR code displayed on the lobby screen with their phone camera.

Can players join mid-game?

Yes. The lobby is always available to late joiners. If they join after the game has started, they begin with 0 points and can answer from the current question onwards.

How many players can join?

There is no hard limit on players. The TV leaderboard sidebar shows up to 8 players at a time, but all players are tracked and ranked correctly. For large groups, consider a team game where each phone represents one team.

Can I play without a TV?

The system is designed for a shared TV display. Without it, players only see answer options on their phones — not the question text. For best results, connect a laptop to a screen or use a Smart TV browser.

Audio & Voices

The TV isn't reading questions aloud. What's wrong?

Web browsers block audio until a user interacts with the page. After opening the TV app, press any key on the keyboard (or a button on the TV remote) to unlock audio. A prompt usually appears at the top of the screen if audio is locked.

How do I switch to a regional voice?

Go to Settings → Profile & Defaults → AI Host Voice Region. Pick your region (e.g. Yorkshire, Scottish, Irish) and save. Make sure your Voice Engine is set to Premium (ElevenLabs) — regional voices only work with ElevenLabs. The new voice will apply in your next game session.

What's the difference between Default Region and AI Host Voice Region?

These are two completely separate settings. Default Region (in Studio Defaults) tells the AI question generator which country or region to target when writing questions — it affects question content, spelling, and cultural references. AI Host Voice Region sets the ElevenLabs accent used to read questions aloud on the TV. Changing one does not affect the other.

Can I clone my own voice as the host?

Yes, on the Ultimate plan. Voice cloning lets the TV read questions in your own voice. Set this up in the Voice Settings page of the dashboard.

Creating Quizzes

Can I write my own questions?

Yes. On the Create page, choose any game mode and type your questions and answers manually. You can also mix manual questions with AI-generated ones in the same pack.

How does the AI question generator work?

Enter a topic, choose a difficulty and question count, then click Generate. The AI writes questions, multiple-choice options, and correct answers automatically. You can edit any question before saving. AI tokens are used per generation run — your remaining tokens are shown in Settings.

What is the Default Difficulty setting for?

It pre-fills the difficulty dropdown every time you open the AI generator, saving you a step. You can always change it per pack without affecting the saved default.

What is pre-generated audio?

On Pro and Ultimate plans, you can generate all TTS audio for a pack before your event. This means there is no pause between questions while the TV waits for audio — everything plays instantly. Use the Generate Audio button in the pack editor.

Game Controls

How do I pause the game?

Tap the Pause button in the host remote controls on your phone during an active question. The countdown freezes on the TV for all players. Tap Resume to restart it.

What is Force Start?

When Show Rules is enabled, the TV waits for every player to tap Ready before the quiz begins. If someone is slow, the host can tap Force Start on their phone to skip the wait and begin immediately.

What is the Fastest Finger Bonus?

An optional +0.5 point awarded to the first player to answer correctly on each question. Toggle it on or off in Game Rules settings or directly in the host remote during a live game.

How are ties broken?

If players are tied at the end, the game can trigger a Sudden Death round — one final question where the fastest correct answer wins the game.

How do I reset scores and play again?

After the podium screen appears, tap Play Again or Reset to Lobby on your phone. The TV returns to the lobby screen with all scores cleared, ready for a fresh game.

Settings & Account

Do my settings apply to every game automatically?

Yes. Everything saved in Settings becomes the default for all future game sessions. Changes to voice region, game rules, branding, and lead generation are picked up the next time you start a game from the mobile app.

How do I collect player emails?

Go to Settings → Lead Generation and enable Require Email to Join. Players will be prompted for their email when they join. All emails are saved and can be exported as a CSV from the same settings tab.

How do I add my venue logo to the TV screen?

Go to Settings → TV Branding, upload your logo image, and save. The logo will appear on the TV intro screen and lobby screen during your next game.

How do I change my password?

Go to Settings → Profile & Defaults → Security. Enter your new password twice and click Update Password. If you see a "recent login required" message, log out and back in first.

How do I manage my subscription?

Tap Manage Subscription in Settings to open the Stripe billing portal, where you can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel. Alternatively, go to the Subscriptions page from the dashboard sidebar.

I saw the onboarding walkthrough once and want to see it again.

Go to Settings → Profile & Defaults and click Replay Intro. The guided walkthrough will restart the next time you open the dashboard.