Five familiar formats that a judge makes fairer and faster, and nine that only work because something at the table can grade free answers, score confidence and distance, rate every player, and run a market.
How these formats judge and score, and how many use each
Black headers are familiar formats with a judge added; white headers are original. Built-on names identify the format each one starts from.
The host runs the room. Zebra grades every answer.
Zebra’s job
Reads team answers from printed slips under the camera or from team phones, applies the answer key, flags anything truly ambiguous to the host, and keeps standings on the TV.
Scoring
1 point per answer as standard, with optional difficulty points, an estimation tiebreak, and a confidence round.
Buzz in with your voice. No buttons.
Zebra’s job
The mic array hears who started speaking first. If two voices start within [X] milliseconds of each other, it calls a tie and both get to answer. Wagers work as they do on TV.
Scoring
Clue values set by measured difficulty; a final wager round at the end.
Name all 50 states out loud, as a team, against the clock.
Zebra’s job
Ticks off each valid item the moment it's said, ignores repeats and near-duplicates, and shows what's still missing when time runs out.
Scoring
1 point per item, with a bonus for finishing the list.
Sixteen clues, four hidden groups. Find them, then name each link.
Zebra’s job
Checks each group you lock in, then judges whether the connection you name matches the real one closely enough.
Scoring
A point per group, plus a point per correctly named connection.
Write a believable wrong answer to an obscure question. Fool the table.
Zebra’s job
Throws out any fake that turns out to be true, adds a decoy of its own, and reads every option in the same voice so nobody's phrasing gives them away.
Scoring
Points for each player you fool and for finding the real answer.
Answer, then say how sure you are. Being honest about it is the skill.
Zebra’s job
Grades the answer, then applies a log score to the confidence you stated.
Scoring
10 × (1 + log₂ q), where q is the chance you gave to what happened. Right at 95% earns 9. Wrong at 99% loses 56.
Every answer is a number. Get close.
Zebra’s job
Converts units, hears “about three hundred” as 300, and scores the distance on a log scale.
Scoring
5 − 2 × |log₂(guess ÷ answer)|, rounded, never below zero.
Write a question that splits the room.
Zebra’s job
Checks your question against the fact bank and rules it fair, or sends it back as ambiguous, unverifiable or a trick. Then grades everyone's answers.
Scoring
If k of N players get it, the author scores the smaller of k and N − k.
One player answers. Everyone else trades on whether they'll get it right.
Zebra’s job
Opens a market at its estimate of the answerer's chance, runs the trading, grades the answer, and settles every position.
Scoring
Chips. Each winning share pays 1. An automated market maker sets the prices.
A 10-year-old and a professor at one table, both with a real shot.
Zebra’s job
Rates every player and every question, predicts each player's chance on each question, and scores what you beat it by.
Scoring
Right: 1 minus your predicted chance. Wrong: minus your predicted chance. Zero means you played exactly to your rating.
Why and how questions, graded on the reasoning.
Zebra’s job
Grades explanations against a written rubric with partial credit, quoting the line that earned or lost each point.
Scoring
0 to 3 per rubric criterion.
Four facts. One is invented. Find it, and say how sure you are.
Zebra’s job
Serves facts from the verified bank with one editor-written fake per round, then applies confidence scoring to your pick.
Scoring
Confidence scoring on the fake you chose.
Trivia about the people at the table.
Zebra’s job
Before the game, each player tells Zebra a few facts about themselves. It writes questions from them, keeps them on the device, and deletes them when the game ends.
Scoring
Points for knowing your friends. The subject scores when nobody does.
Five questions a day, the same for every Zebra, ranked worldwide.
Zebra’s job
Serves one question from each difficulty band, grades free answers, and ranks with points gained so a streak means something.
Scoring
Points gained against the day's whole field.