How the Quizzes on Trivia Gauntlet Are Made

Trivia Gauntlet started from something simple: I like trivia, and I like rewatching shows. Some of my favourite series are ones I have gone back to four, five or even ten times. After a while I noticed that most online quizzes about those shows ask the same twenty questions, and that I learned very little from them. This site tries to do something different.

This page explains exactly how each quiz is put together, so you know what you are playing and how far to trust it.

What Every Quiz Contains

Each quiz has 20 multiple-choice questions with four options and one correct answer, split into five easy, five medium, five hard and five expert questions. You can read more about the levels in Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert.

After every question, the quiz shows the correct answer with a few sentences on the story behind it. The full answer key is printed under the quiz, and each answer names its source. Each quiz page also has a "by the numbers" box with key facts about the show, and a section explaining what the quiz covers.

Step 1: Start From a Source

Every quiz begins with a source rather than from memory. For most quizzes this is the English Wikipedia article on the show, game or film, which brings together production history, casting, reception and records, with references to interviews, books and press coverage. Where a subject has two main articles, such as a book and a film series, or a game and a TV adaptation, both are used and each answer says which one it came from.

Step 2: Write Questions Only From That Source

Questions are drafted with the help of AI tools, but only from facts in the source text. If a fact is not in the source, it does not go in the quiz, however well known it is. That rule matters: questions written from general memory tend to drift into half-remembered details, and they all end up asking the same famous things.

Step 3: Skip the Questions Everyone Asks

Most fans have already answered the obvious questions many times. So each quiz deliberately leaves out the stock questions, such as the most famous catchphrase, and spends more time on what most quizzes miss: how the show was made, which actors nearly played which roles, what it was almost called, why networks turned it down, and what happened after it ended. The section on each quiz page called "What this quiz covers" explains the focus.

Step 4: Make the Wrong Options Believable

A question is only as hard as its wrong options. If two of the four are obviously fake, even a difficult fact becomes easy. Where possible, the wrong options are real names from the same story: another actor who was considered for the role, another working title, another composer who worked on the franchise. The explanation then often says why those options are wrong, so you learn something from them too.

Step 5: Explain the Answer Properly

A good explanation does more than repeat the answer. Each one is usually three or four sentences and gives the context: who made the decision, why it happened, and what came of it. If you get a question wrong, you should still come away knowing something new about the show.

Step 6: Check Against the Source

Every finished quiz is checked against its source. Any detail the source does not support is cut or rewritten, and any question with more than one reasonable answer is replaced. Facts that change over time, such as sales figures, are given with a date.

What I Leave Out

I skip questions with adult or graphic detail, questions that depend on a wording trick, and anything about real people's private lives. Each quiz's FAQ says whether it reveals major plot twists, so you can decide whether to read the answer key.

The Articles

The research for the quizzes often turns up the same kind of story across several shows, such as the hits that were turned down at first, or the roles that nearly went to someone else. The articles on this site bring those stories together and use the same sources as the quizzes.

Corrections

Sources can be wrong, and mistakes can slip through. If you think an answer is wrong, or a question is badly worded, please use the contact page and choose "Wrong Question / Answer". When a mistake is confirmed, the question is fixed or replaced.

What Comes Next

The library will grow one show at a time, using the same method. If there is a series you want to see, you can request it on the contact page. You can browse everything on the quiz home page.