PULTEVENT
Big screen games for large groups: 8 3D games steered from phones
A product launch after-party in a converted warehouse, a hundred and fifty people and a projector screen the width of a bus. On it, twelve neon cars slide sideways across a frozen lake under the northern lights. Each car belongs to someone in the crowd, thumbs going on their phone. Behind the twelve drivers a queue has formed, the way it does at a fairground. Somebody at the front of it is holding his phone above his head, shouting at a green car that has just hit the wall and lost every point it had.
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Large groups are hard to entertain with games. A quiz works for everyone but keeps them seated. Physical games work for twenty but leave a hundred and thirty watching. What I wanted was something in between: a game the whole room can see, a dozen people can play at once, and the rest can cheer for like a sport.
The 3D games in PULTEVENT do that. The game runs on the projector, and each player steers from their own phone after scanning a QR code. No app, no controllers. Here are eight of them, how to rotate a big crowd through the seats, and the checks I do on the projector and the connection before doors open.
8 3D games for large groups, steered from phones
1 Drift Arena
Up to twelve cars on a 3D arena: a neon car park, a night-time port or a frozen lake. Gas is automatic, the two halves of the phone screen steer, and the DRIFT button throws the car into a slide.
How to run it. One rule for the room: you only steer and drift. Longer, faster, sharper slides score more; glowing zones double points; hitting a wall burns your bank.
It's the headline act. Nothing gets a crowd shouting like twelve colleagues drifting into each other.
2 Horse Race
Six horses, six riders on phones. Tap Gallop to speed up, tap Jump when the phone says a hurdle is coming, grab coins on the track. Place plus coins decides the winner.
How to run it. Let each team pick a jockey and let the rest of the team shout for the horse. The noise doubles.
Simple enough for anyone, and a photo finish on a big screen is pure drama.
3 Fun Flight
Guests fly planes across the sky from their phones. Flying in someone's trail gives a slipstream boost. If fewer than four people are playing, rival planes fill the sky.
How to run it. Pick a neutral sky outside October. The Halloween look is great, but only in season.
A calmer game than the drift, good for a mixed crowd where not everyone wants to crash cars.
4 Bowling
Six players join a team from their phones and bowl by swiping up the screen. A faster swipe throws harder; a curved swipe curves the ball.
How to run it. Nothing to explain. Say "swipe up" and step back.
Everyone knows bowling, so it has zero learning curve even for people who never play games.
5 Tower
One tower on the screen, teams taking turns to drop a block onto it. Tap when the block is right above the tower. It speeds up as it gets higher, and sooner or later it falls.
How to run it. A perfectly placed block straightens the tower and scores double. Tell the room, so they groan when someone misses it.
The whole room watches one tower wobble. The collapse gets the loudest reaction of the night.
6 Aquarium
A big aquarium on the projector and the same fish on every guest's phone. Tap a fish to net it; first tap wins. Glowing fish are worth more, a goldfish gives a bonus, and touching a monster freezes your net.
How to run it. Use it when you want everyone playing at once, not just the twelve at the front.
The one 3D game where nobody waits in a queue.
7 Decorate the Tree
A Christmas tree on the big screen. Guests touch it on their phones and ornaments fly onto the tree. At the end, the star lights up in the winner's colour.
How to run it. Run it just before the lights go down for the dancing. It sets the mood better than any speech.
It's playful rather than competitive, which suits a party where not everyone wants to win.
8 Races
Six sleds on a snowy slope, each steered by tilting the phone like a steering wheel, with arrow buttons for anyone who prefers them. Demo sleds run until guests take the spots.
How to run it. Tell the room to tilt, not tap. Anyone who struggles can use the arrows, which work just as well.
Tilting a phone like a wheel makes people lean with their whole body. Watching the queue lean is half the fun.
Twelve players at a time
Drift Arena takes up to twelve cars at once, each steered from a guest's phone. Other games take six or the whole room.
Rounds of a minute or two
Short rounds keep the queue moving, so a crowd of 150 gets through in a sensible time.
Fun to watch
Crashes, photo finishes and collapsing towers are as much fun for the crowd as for the players.
Points for teams
Results from the 3D games can feed the team scoreboard, so departments or tables compete across the whole evening.
Rotating 150 people through 12 seats
The maths is friendlier than it looks. A drift round is a minute or two, plus a minute to change drivers. That's around twelve drivers every three minutes, so a crowd of 150 can all have a go in under an hour if everyone wants one, which they won't.
In practice I run heats by team: one round per department or table, then a final with the best driver from each. Between heats, switch to the Aquarium or Decorate the Tree so the whole room plays for a few minutes. Nobody stands in a queue for long, and the people who only want to watch get something to cheer for.
Checks on the projector and the laptop
The 3D games are drawn by the laptop, so the laptop does real work. Use a machine with graphics acceleration switched on in the browser. If it isn't available, guests can still play on their phones and the scoreboard goes to the big screen, but you lose the spectacle, which is the point of a big screen.
Run one full round in the venue before guests arrive, on the actual projector. Check that the picture is bright enough with the room lights at party level, and that the sound goes through the venue speakers. Engine noise and a crowd cheering over it are part of the show.
Bandwidth: the honest part
Every player's phone talks to a server during the game, so the phones need internet. There is no offline mode. Guests can use mobile data or the venue wifi, and they don't all need to be on the same network.
The risk is a big room full of people on a weak connection. Ask the venue about their wifi capacity, check mobile signal inside the hall, and test from the corner furthest from the router. If a phone drops out, the guest's place in the event room is held for ten minutes, so a locked screen doesn't throw anyone out of the evening.
Where 3D games fit in a large event
After dinner and before the dancing. People have eaten, the speeches are over, and the room needs a lift. Forty minutes of heats and a final is plenty.
Hand out points to teams by finishing place and put them on the team scoreboard. By the end of the night the drift final has decided more than one trophy.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, a host who has run weddings, company parties and birthdays since 2014: more than 500 events, and TOP 100 Awards best host in Moscow (2024) and Saint Petersburg (2023). He built the console for his own events first.
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How to run big screen games for a large group
- 1
Check the venue's wifi and mobile signal and ask how many devices the network can handle.
- 2
On the day, connect the laptop to the projector, turn on graphics acceleration and run a test round.
- 3
Put the QR code on the screen and explain the one rule of the first game.
- 4
Run heats by team, twelve drivers at a time in Drift Arena or six in the other games.
- 5
Between heats, switch to the Aquarium or Decorate the Tree so the whole room plays.
- 6
Finish with a final between the best players and give the points to the team scoreboard.
FAQ
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See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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