PULTEVENT
Grand Final party games: 8 ideas for the breaks, not the game
A lounge room in Ballarat, last Saturday in September. Three couches, one of them carried over from next door at ten this morning. Pies warming in the oven since before the pre-match, a tray of party sausage rolls going cold on the ironing board, and a room split cleanly down the middle by scarf colour. In the hallway, two nine-year-olds are doing kick-to-kick with a rolled-up pair of socks, and somebody's uncle is already explaining why the umpires will cost his team the flag.
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Nobody at a Grand Final party wants a game while the ball's in play. They want the footy. What they don't have is anything to do in the hour of pre-match, the quarter-time and three-quarter-time breaks, and the long half-time entertainment that half the room ignores. Those gaps are where a few short games on the telly earn their keep.
PULTEVENT runs from a laptop browser. You plug it into a second TV or a projector (or switch the main TV's input in the breaks), guests scan a QR code and play on their phones, no app and no sign-up. The phones need internet, which on Grand Final day, with the whole street streaming, is worth testing early.
8 games, one for each gap in the day
1 Countdown to the bounce
A break screen with the time left to the opening bounce, over a photo of your lot in team colours. It sits on the second screen all through the pre-match.
How to run it. Set it a minute early. Somebody is always in the loo when the ball goes up.
Everyone knows exactly how long they've got for another pie.
2 The tipping sheet
Before the bounce, everyone votes from their phone: who wins, by how much, who kicks the first goal, will there be a goal in the first two minutes. The answers stay locked until the siren.
How to run it. Close the vote before the teams run out, then screenshot it so nobody can claim they tipped the other side.
It gives the neutrals and the kids a stake in the result.
3 Pre-match footy quiz
Ten questions on the game and its history: how many players on the field per side, how long a quarter runs, what a behind is worth, where the decider is traditionally played. Answered from phones, scored live.
How to run it. Mix a few basics for the partners who came for the food with a few tough ones for the self-appointed experts.
Fills the pre-match hour when the television is mostly people in suits talking about the weather.
4 Guess the junior footballer
Photos of your guests in their under-tens kit: the too-big jumper, the mouthguard grin, the mud to the knees. The room guesses who's who.
How to run it. Collect the photos quietly the week before. Mums have them in shoeboxes.
Everybody in the room played at some stage, or pretends they did. This proves it.
5 Quarter-time: true or false
Six quick statements about footy history and famous Grand Finals, true or false from the phones, answer after each. It's over before the players have finished their drinks.
How to run it. Check every one against a proper source. A wrong answer here will be argued about until Christmas.
Fast, and it keeps the break from turning into a replay of the umpiring decisions.
6 Half-time bowling
The pre-game show is over and the half-time act is on. The kids, and the adults who don't care about the act, take turns bowling on the big screen from their phones.
How to run it. Keep it on the second screen or switch back well before the teams return.
Stops the kick-to-kick in the hallway turning into a broken lamp.
7 Three-quarter-time margin vote
One question at the last change: final margin, in brackets of a goal. Everyone votes again, and you compare it to the pre-match tips.
How to run it. Keep it to one question. People are too tense for more.
It gives the losing side's supporters something to do with their hands.
8 The party's best and fairest
After the siren and the presentation, the team scoreboard adds up the quiz, the tipping and the true-or-false, then runs its own awards: special mentions first, then the winner of the party medal, with fanfare on the screen.
How to run it. Include a consolation award for the most heartbroken supporter. They'll need it.
Half the room is miserable after the siren. A silly ceremony helps.
Only in the breaks
Short rounds timed for pre-match, quarter-time, half-time and three-quarter-time. Never during play.
Tipping without a spreadsheet
Predictions voted from phones before the bounce, results on screen at the siren.
Both sides of the room
Games that split by team colours, so the rivalry has somewhere to go.
A best and fairest of your own
The party picks its own medal winner at the end, with a proper presentation.
The one rule
Nothing on the screen while the ball's in play. People have waited all season for this, and the fastest way to lose a footy crowd is to put a quiz in front of a set shot. Every game on this page is timed for a break, and every one of them can be cut short when the players run back out.
If you only have one TV, switch the input in the breaks and switch back with a minute to spare. With a second screen, the games live there all day and the main telly stays on the broadcast.
Tipping, without the money
Plenty of workplaces and families run a footy tipping comp all season. On Grand Final day you can wrap it up in the room: the season's leader gets their moment on the screen, and the day's own tips decide a small prize. There's no betting in any of this, just votes and a podium. If money changes hands among your crowd, that stays off the laptop.
When it's the league decider instead
In New South Wales and Queensland, the big one is often the rugby league Grand Final, usually on a Sunday night. Same idea, different code: swap the quiz for league questions, move the junior photos to the league kit, and keep the half-time bowling. Some households watch both weekends running, and the setup carries straight over.
"Which code are we doing this year?"
"Both. Your mum's already bought two lots of sausage rolls."
The Friday before
In Victoria the Friday before the Aussie rules decider is a public holiday for the parade. Some offices hold their footy lunch on the Thursday instead, and the same games work there: colours day, a tipping vote for the weekend, the quiz and the junior photos from staff. It's a good warm-up if you're hosting on the Saturday too.
Before the day
Take the free 3-day demo a few days before, no card needed. Write the quiz, load the junior photos and do a trial run with whoever's helping. The home Wi-Fi is worth testing with a few phones connected, since everyone in the street will be streaming at once. After that, the full version is a one-time licence, no subscription, with the price shown on 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 games at a Grand Final party
- 1
During the week, write the footy quiz and the true-or-false statements, and collect junior footy photos.
- 2
Set up the tipping questions and the margin vote in the live voting section.
- 3
On the morning, connect the laptop to a second TV or projector and test the QR code on the home Wi-Fi.
- 4
Run the countdown, tipping and quiz in the pre-match.
- 5
Use quarter-time, half-time and three-quarter-time for the short rounds, switching back before play restarts.
- 6
After the presentation, finish with the party's own best and fairest.
FAQ
Can I show the match through PULTEVENT?
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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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