PULTEVENT
Emoji and picture quiz: 7 rounds that need no common language
Family evening at an international school in Rotterdam. Parents from something like thirty countries sit on plastic chairs in the gym, with kids cross-legged at the front. On the screen: a ship, an iceberg and a broken heart. For a second, nothing. Then a Brazilian dad, a Korean mum and a Dutch grandfather all shout the answer at once, in three different accents, and the whole gym laughs because they all got it.
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That's why I keep coming back to picture rounds. A written quiz question is only fair if everyone reads the language well. A picture, or a row of emoji, levels the room. Children compete with adults, newcomers with old-timers, and the person who never speaks up at a quiz suddenly has the answer first.
PULTEVENT has two ready-made sections for this. In the Picture Quiz, an image fills the big screen with four answer options under it. In the Emoji Riddle, a chain of emoji stands for a film or a song. Guests answer out loud, so they don't need their phones. You see the correct answer on your console or on your own phone, and reveal it when the room has argued long enough. For a round answered on phones, you can put pictures into questions in the quiz builder.
7 picture and emoji rounds for parties, schools and work
1 Guess the film from emoji
A row of emoji tells the plot of a film. The room shouts titles until someone gets it, and you reveal the answer on the screen.
How to run it. Start with the most famous films, where three emoji are plenty. Save the five-emoji head-scratchers for later.
It's the fastest warm-up I know. People get it in seconds and immediately want the next one.
2 Guess the song from emoji
The same section switched to songs with one button. The emoji spell out the title or the chorus, and half the room sings the answer instead of saying it.
How to run it. Play the first seconds of each song after the reveal. It turns every answer into a small celebration.
It's the natural bridge from quiz time to dance time.
3 Four options under a picture
A picture fills the screen with four possible answers underneath: which city, which animal, which dish, which decade. The room calls the letter.
How to run it. Choose the theme from your phone before you start. Mix easy and hard pictures so the lead changes hands.
Multiple choice means nobody is completely lost, and everyone has a one-in-four chance to feel clever.
4 Office picture round
Your own photos: the canteen's famous lasagne, a corner of the boss's desk, the view from the third floor, the plant that has survived three reorganizations.
How to run it. Photograph details, not whole scenes. The closer the crop, the harder and funnier the round.
It's about the people in the room, and nobody outside the company could answer it.
5 Whose baby is this
Childhood photos of guests on the big screen. The room guesses who it is, you reveal the name. It works at birthdays, reunions and work parties alike.
How to run it. Ask for photos privately a week ahead. Never post them in a group chat, or the round is over before it starts.
Baby photos get the biggest reactions of any picture round, and the reveal is a small party in itself.
6 Picture round on phones
Build a quiz in the quiz builder with an image in each question. Guests answer on their phones through the QR code, and scores add up automatically.
How to run it. Drag pictures straight from your desktop into each question, or paste a screenshot. Phones need internet.
Fair scoring for a big room, and nobody has to shout over a hundred other people.
7 Team picture battle
Tables play as teams. After each reveal, you mark the teams that answered correctly, and their points go to the evening's scoreboard.
How to run it. Give each table a spokesperson so you hear one answer per team, not twelve.
A light round becomes part of a real competition, with an awards ceremony waiting at the end.
Pictures cross languages
An image or a row of emoji needs very little vocabulary. It suits mixed-language rooms and mixed ages.
No phones needed
Guests shout the answer. You reveal it on the screen. It works even where the mobile signal doesn't.
Answers in your pocket
The correct answer shows on your phone. Pick the next riddle from there while you walk the room.
Your own pictures
Swap images, change the answers, delete riddles the room won't know, and build whole themes of your own.
Why pictures work in a mixed room
At an international school, a bilingual wedding or a company with offices in five countries, a written quiz quietly favors the native speakers. Pictures and emoji don't. A ship and an iceberg mean the same thing in Lisbon and in Leeds.
Pictures also help with age gaps. An eight-year-old and her grandfather can both look at a photo of a dish and argue about it. Try that with a question about tax law.
Making the content fit your room
Both sections come with ready-made content, but it was mostly built for Russian-speaking audiences, so check each riddle before the party. Any film the room won't know is better deleted than explained.
The own questions button lets you replace an emoji chain, change a picture, rewrite the four options, delete what doesn't fit, or build a whole new theme. Your edits are visible only in your account. For a long list, fill in the spreadsheet template and load it in one go (.xlsx, .csv or .txt), then save your set as a file to reuse on another laptop.
Writing a good emoji riddle
Three to five emoji, telling the story in order. The first emoji should set the scene, the last one should give the twist. If you need more than five, the film is too complicated for the format.
Avoid riddles that rely on wordplay in one language. A pun that works in English falls flat for half an international room. Stick to images of things: animals, objects, weather, faces.
"Is it the one with the dog?"
"There's no dog in it."
"Then why is there a dog emoji?"
That last question means your riddle needs fixing.
Hosting from the floor
Open the console on your phone through the QR code in the app header, and you can run both sections from the middle of the room. The answer is on your phone, so you never need to look back at the laptop. Pick any riddle, switch between films and songs, choose the picture theme, all from your hand.
The text on the big screen is set large enough to read from the back tables. Still, walk to the back during setup and check. A projector in a bright school gym washes out more than you think.
Timing and order
Eight to ten emoji riddles take about ten minutes. A picture round of twelve takes fifteen. Together with a baby photo round, you have a proper forty-minute quiz block with three different kinds of question, which keeps the room from getting tired of any one of them.
Start with emoji (fast, loud, easy), move to pictures, and finish with the baby photos, because the reactions there are the biggest of the night.
Trying it out
Register for the free 3-day demo, no card required, and write five emoji riddles for your own family. The full version is a one-time license with no subscription; pricing is at pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run an emoji and picture quiz on a TV
- 1
Decide the rounds: emoji films, emoji songs, pictures, baby photos.
- 2
Check the ready-made content and replace anything the room won't know.
- 3
Add your own pictures and riddles, or load them from the spreadsheet template.
- 4
Connect the laptop to the TV and open the console on your phone.
- 5
Show each riddle, let the room shout, then reveal the answer.
- 6
Mark the teams that got it right and finish with the baby photos.
FAQ
Do guests need phones?
Is the ready-made content in English?
Can I switch between films and songs?
Can I use my own photos?
Does it work for kids?
Can teams keep score?
What does it cost?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
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