Phone play mode

Think of it like a game show. You are the host, running the game on a TV or projector. Your guests are the contestants, playing along on their phones. Nobody needs to download an app or create an account -- they just open a link and join.

• You start a live session from your dashboard. Biraea creates a short join code.
• Guests scan a QR code or type in the code on their phones.
• They enter a display name and wait in the lobby.
• You advance through questions at your own pace. Guests see each question on their phone and tap their answer.
• Scores are tallied automatically. A leaderboard shows who is winning.

That is the whole concept. The next sections walk through the details for both you (the host) and your guests.

Before your shower, make sure your game has questions added. Then, when you are ready to play:

1. 1Go to your game's detail page in the dashboard.
2. 2Make sure the play mode is set to Phone Play (not Screen Only).
3. 3Click Play Live. This creates a new game session with a unique join code.
4. 4A lobby screen appears showing a QR code and a 6-character join code. Display this on your TV or projector so guests can see it.
5. 5Wait for guests to join. You will see their names appear in the lobby as they connect.
6. 6When everyone is in, start the game. Questions will appear one at a time, and you control when to advance to the next one.

Here is what your guests will see on their phones. It might help to walk through this at the start of the game so everyone knows what to expect:

1. 1They scan the QR code on the big screen (or go to the join page and type in the 6-character code).
2. 2They enter a display name -- something fun so everyone knows who they are on the leaderboard.
3. 3They wait in the lobby until you start the game. The screen shows a "waiting for host" message.
4. 4When a question appears, they see it on their phone along with the answer options. They tap their answer.
5. 5After answering, they see whether they got it right or wrong.
6. 6Between questions, they wait for you to advance to the next one.
7. 7At the end, the leaderboard shows the final standings.

Guests do not need a Biraea account, and they do not need to download anything. It works in any mobile browser.

Every live session gets a unique 6-character code (like A3BK7R). The code uses easy-to-read characters -- no zeros that look like the letter O, and no ones that look like the letter L. This way, guests can type it in without confusion.

The QR code does the same thing automatically -- when scanned, it takes guests straight to the join page with the code already filled in. Most guests will find the QR code easier.

Biraea scores answers automatically based on the game type:

• Trivia and Who Knows Best: Exact match -- you either get it right or you do not.
• Price is Right: Proportional scoring -- the closer your guess is to the actual price, the more points you get.
• Nursery Rhyme Fill-in: Fuzzy matching -- small typos and spelling differences are forgiven.
• The Survey Says: Ranked scoring -- guessing the number one answer earns more points than guessing number five.

The leaderboard updates after each question. You can show it on the big screen between questions or save the big reveal for the end.

As the host, you also see an answer count badge on each question, showing how many guests have answered. This helps you know when everyone is ready for the next question.

Most game types work in phone play mode. There is one exception:

• Match Game is screen-only. Since it involves one partner answering live against pre-recorded answers, it does not translate to a phone format. Guests watch and react instead of playing on their phones.

All other 10 game types -- Trivia, Who Knows Best, Price is Right, Baby Bingo, Nursery Rhyme, Emoji Quiz, Survey Says, Baby Photo, Name Bracket, and Predictions -- support phone play mode.

Technology at a party can feel stressful, but most issues have simple fixes:

• A guest cannot scan the QR code: Have them type the join code manually. The join page is at /play/join on your site.
• A guest's screen is stuck on "waiting": Their phone checks for updates every few seconds automatically. If it still seems stuck, refreshing the page usually fixes it.
• You lost the host screen: Just go back to the game detail page and re-open the session. Your guests stay connected.
• The venue Wi-Fi is not working: Guests can use their mobile data instead. The game uses very little bandwidth.
• A guest joined late: They can join mid-game and start answering from the current question forward. They will not get points for questions they missed, but they can still participate.