Trivia
50 Trivia Questions for Work, Easy to Hard (With Answers)
· 9 min read
Good work trivia is answerable by a room with no specialists in it. Nobody should need to know cricket rules or chemistry to get points, and nobody should feel stupid for missing one. These 50 questions are pulled from the bank we use in TeamPlay's own Trivia game, where they have been played by real teams and sorted by how many people in an ordinary room get them right.
They run from easy (warm-up questions most people know) to hard (the ones that start arguments). Every question is multiple choice, which keeps scoring fair: there is no "close enough" to argue about.
How to use this list
- Mix the levels. Open with three or four easy questions so every team scores early, then climb. A quiz that starts hard loses half the room by question two.
- Play in teams of three to six. Small enough that everyone gets a say, big enough that someone usually knows.
- Give 15 to 20 seconds per question. Longer and teams start searching on their phones.
- Read the options aloud, then reveal the answer to everyone at once. The reveal is the fun part.
Easy trivia questions (1–20)
Warm-ups. A room should get most of these, which is the point: everyone is on the board early.
1.How many continents are there?
A 5B 6C 7D 8
Show answer
7
2.What gas do plants absorb from the atmosphere?
A OxygenB NitrogenC Carbon DioxideD Hydrogen
Show answer
Carbon Dioxide
3.Which instrument has 88 keys?
A OrganB PianoC AccordionD Harpsichord
Show answer
Piano
4.How many sides does a hexagon have?
A 5B 6C 7D 8
Show answer
6
5.Which planet is known as the Red Planet?
A VenusB MarsC JupiterD Mercury
Show answer
Mars
6.What is the largest ocean on Earth?
A AtlanticB IndianC ArcticD Pacific
Show answer
Pacific
7.Which currency is used in Japan?
A YuanB WonC YenD Ringgit
Show answer
Yen
8.What does 'URL' stand for?
A Uniform Resource LocatorB Universal Reference LinkC Unified Retrieval LocationD Universal Resource List
Show answer
Uniform Resource Locator
9.What is often called the 'powerhouse of the cell'?
A NucleusB MitochondriaC RibosomeD Cytoplasm
Show answer
Mitochondria
10.How many planets are in our solar system?
A 7B 8C 9D 10
Show answer
8
11.How many chambers does the human heart have?
A 2B 3C 4D 5
Show answer
4
12.Which planet has the most prominent ring system?
A JupiterB SaturnC UranusD Neptune
Show answer
Saturn
13.What is the smallest country in the world by area?
A MonacoB Vatican CityC San MarinoD Liechtenstein
Show answer
Vatican City
14.Mount Kilimanjaro is located on which continent?
A AsiaB AfricaC South AmericaD Australia
Show answer
Africa
15.Who was the first person to walk on the moon?
A Buzz AldrinB Neil ArmstrongC John GlennD Yuri Gagarin
Show answer
Neil Armstrong
16.In what year did the Titanic sink?
A 1905B 1912C 1918D 1923
Show answer
1912
17.Who painted the Mona Lisa?
A MichelangeloB RaphaelC Leonardo da VinciD Donatello
Show answer
Leonardo da Vinci
18.How many holes are played in a standard round of golf?
A 9B 16C 18D 20
Show answer
18
19.In tennis, what does a score of 'love' mean?
A One pointB ZeroC A tieD Match point
Show answer
Zero
20.What is the primary herb in traditional Italian pesto?
A BasilB OreganoC ThymeD Parsley
Show answer
Basil
Medium trivia questions (21–38)
The middle of the quiz. Expect most teams to get about half of these.
21.What is the capital of Australia?
A SydneyB CanberraC MelbourneD Perth
Show answer
Canberra
22.Who is credited with inventing the World Wide Web?
A Bill GatesB Tim Berners-LeeC Steve JobsD Alan Turing
Show answer
Tim Berners-Lee
23.What is the smallest prime number?
A 0B 1C 2D 3
Show answer
2
24.What is the chemical symbol for gold?
A GoB GdC AuD Ag
Show answer
Au
25.How many bones does a shark's skeleton have?
A 0B 108C 206D 300
Show answer
0 – Shark skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone.
26.What is the national language of Brazil?
A SpanishB PortugueseC BrazilianD Italian
Show answer
Portuguese
27.What year was the first iPhone released?
A 2005B 2007C 2009D 2010
Show answer
2007
28.Which programming language is named after a type of coffee?
A JavaB PythonC RubyD Perl
Show answer
Java
29.In what year was Google founded?
A 1996B 1998C 2000D 2002
Show answer
1998
30.Which gas makes up the majority of Earth's atmosphere?
A OxygenB NitrogenC Carbon DioxideD Argon
Show answer
Nitrogen
31.How many pairs of chromosomes do humans typically have?
A 21B 22C 23D 24
Show answer
23
32.Which two countries share the longest international border in the world?
A Russia and ChinaB Chile and ArgentinaC Canada and the USAD India and China
Show answer
Canada and the USA – The Canada-US border runs about 8,900 km including Alaska.
33.Which strait separates Europe from Africa?
A Strait of HormuzB Strait of GibraltarC Bering StraitD Strait of Malacca
Show answer
Strait of Gibraltar
34.In what year did the Berlin Wall fall?
A 1985B 1987C 1989D 1991
Show answer
1989
35.Which country hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896?
A FranceB GreeceC ItalyD United Kingdom
Show answer
Greece
36.What is the main ingredient in hummus?
A LentilsB ChickpeasC Black beansD Peas
Show answer
Chickpeas
37.Which spice, derived from the crocus flower, is the most expensive by weight?
A CinnamonB SaffronC VanillaD Cardamom
Show answer
Saffron
38.Which instrument is Yo-Yo Ma famous for playing?
A ViolinB CelloC ViolaD Double bass
Show answer
Cello
Hard trivia questions (39–50)
For the final round, or for the team that has been winning too comfortably. Each one comes with the reason behind the answer, because someone will ask.
39.Which country has the most time zones?
A USAB RussiaC ChinaD France
Show answer
France – Counting its overseas territories, France spans 12 time zones - more than Russia's 11.
40.What is the only country that borders both France and Spain?
A MonacoB AndorraC LuxembourgD Liechtenstein
Show answer
Andorra – The microstate sits in the Pyrenees, between the two.
41.Which letter doesn't appear in the name of any U.S. state?
A QB XC ZD J
Show answer
Q – Every other letter of the alphabet appears in at least one state's name.
42.Facebook was originally launched under what name?
A TheFacebookB MySpaceC FaceMashD Friendster
Show answer
TheFacebook – It dropped the "The" in 2005.
43.What is the driest continent on Earth?
A AfricaB AustraliaC AntarcticaD Asia
Show answer
Antarctica – Antarctica gets so little precipitation that it counts as a desert.
44.Which is botanically classified as a berry: the banana or the strawberry?
A The bananaB The strawberryC BothD Neither
Show answer
The banana – Botanically, a banana is a berry; a strawberry is not.
45.Which country is credited with inventing the saxophone?
A FranceB BelgiumC GermanyD United States
Show answer
Belgium – Adolphe Sax, the instrument's inventor, was Belgian.
46.Which country has the most natural lakes in the world?
A CanadaB FinlandC SwedenD Russia
Show answer
Canada – Canada has more natural lakes than the rest of the world combined, by most counts.
47.What is the smallest bone in the human body?
A The stapesB The femurC The patellaD The radius
Show answer
The stapes – It sits in the middle ear and is about 3 mm long.
48.Which planet takes the longest to rotate once on its axis?
A MercuryB VenusC MarsD Neptune
Show answer
Venus – Venus takes longer to turn once on its axis than it takes to go around the Sun.
49.Which country was the first to grant women the vote nationally?
A New ZealandB The United KingdomC The United StatesD France
Show answer
New Zealand – New Zealand gave women the vote in 1893.
50.What does the 'S' in Harry S. Truman stand for?
A SolomonB StephenC SamuelD Nothing at all
Show answer
Nothing at all – The S is a middle initial on its own; it doesn't stand for a name.
Want more? There are over 130 in the game
This is a sample. TeamPlay's Trivia draws from a larger bank and orders each game from easy to hard on its own, so no two sessions open on the same question. You can also pick questions by hand, or write your own deck for an onboarding quiz or a company-history round.
If you'd rather not keep score on a whiteboard, host a free session: share your screen, players join on their phones with a room code, and the app marks every answer and keeps the leaderboard. For a full hour built around a quiz, see how to run a 60-minute team game session.