A Kahoot or Jackbox alternative for adults: a trivia night you wrote yourself
When someone searches for a Kahoot alternative for adults or a Jackbox alternative, they usually mean one of two things: Kahoot feels like school, or Jackbox does not let them write the night. Trinko is built for the night in between: a board of your own questions on the TV, every phone a buzzer, and a score that keeps itself.
Kahoot, and a team night
Kahoot is a quiz for individuals: four colored buttons, a countdown, a leaderboard, and a look that grown-ups at a bar do not love. It is very good at what it is for. A trivia night is teams, a board with categories and values, a buzzer race, answers said out loud and ruled on by a host, and a Final you can bet on. Different game.
Jackbox, and a night you wrote
Jackbox is the right idea, phones as controllers and the TV as the board, and the games are someone else's. You cannot put your sister's worst haircut in Fibbage. Trinko keeps the idea and hands you the board: six categories you named, squares you wrote, pictures you picked, and a Final you chose. Or a board someone else wrote, from the shop, when you would rather not.
What Trinko is
Trinko Trivia is a web app for running a Jeopardy-style trivia night: the board on the TV, every phone a buzzer, and a score that adds itself up. Teams join by code or QR with a name, nothing else. Some squares are all-plays where every phone types an answer against a clock; some are wheels with Double and Bankrupt; every wrong answer feeds a pot the next right answer takes; the Final is a wager. A host can run it from a laptop, or party mode runs it and the room judges the answers.
What it is not
- Not multiple choice. Answers are said out loud on a buzz or typed on an all-play.
- Not a box of games. It is one game, trivia, done properly, with a shop of boards written by hosts.
- Not an app. A web page on the TV and a web page on every phone. Nothing to install, no accounts for players.
| Kahoot | Jackbox | Trinko | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made for | Classrooms and training | Living-room party games | Bar trivia, offices, parties, living rooms |
| Your own questions | Yes, multiple choice | No | Yes, a Jeopardy-style board |
| Teams | Individuals, or team mode | Individuals | Teams, one phone each |
| Buzzer | No; fastest correct tap | Some games | Yes, first, second, third, server-ordered |
| Wagers, wheel, pot | No | No | Yes |
| Runs without a host | No | Yes | Yes, party mode |
| Players install | The app or a browser | Nothing | Nothing |
| Price | From $15 a month | $25 to $30 a pack | Free to run; boards free or $14.99 |
Where it fits
A bar night with ten to twenty tables. An office party with a board about the office. A birthday with a board about the birthday girl. A family after dinner with a free board and nobody hosting. How to host a trivia night is the bar version; trivia night at home is the other.
Questions people ask
Is there a Kahoot for adults?
Kahoot itself works at any age; the complaint is the look and the format. For a team trivia night with a buzzer and a board, Trinko is built for grown-ups in a bar or around a table.
Is there a Jackbox alternative with no app?
Jackbox needs no app on the phones either. What it needs is the game bought on a console or computer. Trinko is a web page on the TV and on every phone, with your own questions.
Can I write my own questions?
Yes. A board is yours: categories, squares, questions, answers, pictures. Import a spreadsheet or a JeopardyLabs export, or buy a board written by a host.
How many people can play?
One phone per team, and as many teams as the room holds. Bar nights run with twenty tables; a living room runs with three.
Does it cost anything?
Running a night is free. Ready-made boards are free or $14.99.