Last night (Tuesday), myself and Alison decided to check out the pub quiz in The Minster Tavern run by Ian McKendrick and assisted by his canine companion Lola.
We do like a pub quiz but this one seemed different. Having reviewed the event we saw that the quiz itself is run through your smartphone. I am always curious to see how the modern days of technology are improving the things we like to do on a regular basis.
If I am honest, I didn’t hold much of an expectation. Usually, these new ideas take a while to get right and often fraught with bugs that can ruin an experience. To my surprise, my expectations were completely wrong and found it was really simple to set up and take part.
The questions themselves come in 3 formats, words, numbers and a buzzer system. You don’t even have to spell names right as you only select the first letter of any answer and adding the fastest finger first for bonus points is genius. Each round has a clever scoring system that gives everyone a chance.
ROUND 1: ergh, my deepest fears – what happened in last weeks quiz. Sadly we were not there but it’s a great incentive to go next week and have the insider knowledge needed to excel in this round.
After 20 questions, we were winning!! Yes, we were in first last place and trailing by some points. I thought it was all over before it began.
ROUND 2: This weeks news. I watch and read the news so this should be easy for me. Actually, we did ok, clawed a few points back but I recommend you read a lot of celebrity news.
ROUND 3: A music quiz. You do need an in-depth knowledge of music. I know Ian’s music background is very clear to see in the questions asked. After round 2 and 3 we were still in last place but not so far behind. By this point, I had a few beers consumed and so I hope I am getting everything in the right order.
ROUND 4: TV Intros round – We love old TV programmes and so listening to old intros from Dady Army and Dallas was great fun and brought back some memories of childhood. This round changes every week with differing formats. Another good round for us and up to 5th.
After a short break, a secondary game was introduced called ‘Sing along a Bingo’. No, you don’t have to sing but they will be songs that you’ve probably picked up a hairbrush too. Lots of musical intros are played and you can use an app called Shazam to identify the songs. When a song is played and you have it on your bingo board, you tick it off, complete the pattern and shout BINGO!! Very simple and I am pleased to announce we won it!! Excellent.
Back to the quiz and ROUND 5: We really enjoyed this round, a buzzer round all about Queen. You wait for a song to be played of the several in a lineup and hit the buzzer on your smartphone when you hear it. Simple and you need to be quick to pick up the bonus points on offer. A great round for us, up to equal 4th.
6th and final round: A general quiz and music trivia. We did ok and there was a bonus question at the end worth a massive 30 points.
We ended the evening in 4th place but we didn’t have to mark papers, it was very slick and overall really great fun and got to meet lots of lovely people taking part.
If I have one criticism, people stood at the bar began to make a lot of noise during the final rounds and made hearing the questions difficult in places but that should not stand in the way of how much time and effort Ian has put into his new venture.
If you are into your pub quizzing, this is one quiz you MUST check out every Tuesday night from 8pm. Ian spends a lot of time researching the questions and I think he is on to a real winner with the technology he has chosen to assist him with the quiz and I am sure for the £2 per person entry fee, it is affordable for everyone. Oh, and the £5.79 burger and drink deal is worth a take up too.
