Recommended Free Tools
Online news quizzes turn facts into something you actively retrieve, test and get feedback on. Studies suggest they can make news more enjoyable, help people recall public-affairs information and keep readers on a page longer. That is a meaningful kind of learning—not evidence that quizzes raise IQ or make people broadly smarter.
Why taking a news quiz can feel satisfying
A quiz asks you to do more than read: you have to choose, estimate or recall an answer. That small challenge can make a news fact feel personal. You find out what you already know, notice what you missed and receive feedback while the subject is still in front of you.
In a Center for Media Engagement study summary, participants found quiz formats more enjoyable than static factual information. The center reported that participants spent about 90 seconds with slider quizzes, about 70 seconds with multiple-choice quizzes and about 30 seconds with static quiz information. Those are results from that study, not expected reading times for every news site or audience. Center for Media Engagement
More time on a page can indicate engagement, but it does not by itself show that someone understood or remembered the material. Enjoyment, attention and learning are related possibilities, not interchangeable measures.
#1 Best Overall
- Fake News or Not? is the captivating game about phony funny stories and ludicrous true tales!
- Life writes the craziest stories but what can we believe, and what is just a pack of lies? Who is telling the truth, and whose pants are on fire?
- Find it out with the game for know-it-alls, wiseacres, and lovers of interesting and trivial knowledge!
- 2-8 players, Ages 12+
- 30 minutes play time
What “smarter” means in the evidence
Here, “smarter” is best understood narrowly: learning or recalling particular news facts, or feeling more knowledgeable about a topic. The studies do not establish that quizzes improve general intelligence, increase IQ or create lasting gains across subjects.
Recall and public-affairs knowledge
A nationwide experiment involving 456 participants found that both multiple-choice and slider quizzes helped people acquire public-affairs knowledge and spend more time with public-affairs information than presentation without a quiz. Two field tests found similar engagement rates for the two formats; pages offering both formats saw higher engagement and longer visits. Scacco, Muddiman and Stroud, 2016
Rank #2
- PLAY YOUR OWN LIVE TV QUIZ SHOW AT HOME: Outsmarted turns family game night into a real quiz show, with the free app playing host and putting everyone in the hot seat against the clock. Choose your game length, pick teams or go solo, and let the app run the whole show. It reads out the questions, keeps score and builds the tension, so nobody sits out to referee. Beat the buzzer or get Outsmarted. This is game night with the buzz of a real TV studio right in your living room.
- KIDS VS TEENS VS ADULTS, NOW ANYONE CAN WIN: The game reads each player's age and adjusts question difficulty automatically, so a nine year old and a grandparent get a fair fight. Kids get their level, teens get theirs, adults get the tough ones. Play with 2 to 24 people, from a quiet night for two to a full house at Christmas. Everyone stays in it to the final question, and for once the grown-ups do not get the easy ride. A level playing field that keeps the whole room competing.
- 10,000+ QUESTIONS PLUS 10 BONUS CATEGORIES: The Ultimate Edition stacks the core 10,000+ question library with ten extra add-on packs, around 1,600 further questions, activated by digital redeem codes sent to you at purchase. Logo Quiz, The Human Body, World of Pets, Animated Films 2, Guess Who 2, Where on Earth, Movie Music, The Price is Right, American Sitcoms and A Question of Sport give the deepest challenge in the whole range. Weekly Breaking News keeps it current.
- WORKS WITH THE DEVICES YOU ALREADY OWN: Run the free app on iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, or a Windows 10 and 11 laptop. Connect up to six devices as handheld buzzers so every team gets their own controller, then stream the whole show to almost any Smart TV for the full big-screen effect. A folding stand for your phone or tablet is in the box. There is nothing extra to buy to start playing, and every future app update is included at no cost, so the game keeps getting better over time.
- JOIN OVER ONE MILLION FAMILIES PLAYING OUTSMARTED: This is the game families reach for when they want a real night together, off the silent scrolling and solo screens. It gets three generations laughing, groaning and competing around one board. A personal license key and free lifetime support come with every copy, plus a growing library of free bonus categories in the app. Real questions, real laughs, real time together. That is why the Outsmarted community keeps growing.
Interest and perceived knowledge
An experiment involving 585 participants found an indirect increase in interest in politics and political news, as well as intention to engage politically. The reported pathway ran through participants’ perceptions of their own political knowledge. That points to a possible mechanism in a political-news setting; it does not show that every quiz increases interest, or that feeling knowledgeable is the same as demonstrating greater knowledge. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 2019
Which quiz format should a news publisher use?
The cited work does not establish one format as universally best. The right choice depends on what a quiz is meant to teach and how much explanation the reader needs.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Rank #3
- Package Quantity :1
- In contrast to traditional trivia formats, you don't receive points for answering questions correctly. Instead, points are subtracted for every incorrect answer!
- Contains 110 cards with more than 400 questions about things that you should know
- An addictively entertaining trivia game where it will only be a matter of time before you hear yourself say ahhh!... I should have known that!
| Format or design choice | What it asks of the reader | What the cited evidence supports |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple choice | Recognize the answer among options. | Associated with public-affairs knowledge acquisition and time spent with information in the 2016 experiment. |
| Slider | Estimate a value along a range rather than select from a short list. | Also associated with public-affairs knowledge acquisition and time spent in the 2016 experiment; the Center for Media Engagement reported longer time on page for this format than for multiple choice in its study. |
| More than one format on a page | Move between different kinds of questions. | Field tests in the 2016 study found higher engagement and longer visits when both formats were available. |
| Static factual information | Read information without answering quiz questions. | Served as a comparison in the Center for Media Engagement study summary; it does not establish that static explanations are unnecessary. |
For a quiz about consequential news, format is only part of the design. Questions should be grounded in reliable public-opinion estimates or reputable factual data, and explanations should show where the answer comes from. A quiz can make a statistic participatory without making a weakly supported claim more reliable.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why remembering a correction is not the same as changing your mind
A quiz can help someone remember a debunk without changing their belief in the misinformation it addresses. In research on quizzes about misinformation debunks, multiple-choice quizzes improved memory for the debunks but did not reduce belief in the misinformation. Recall is one outcome; belief change is another. Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review
Rank #4
- PLAY YOUR OWN LIVE TV QUIZ SHOW AT HOME: Outsmarted turns family game night into a real quiz show, with the free app playing host and putting everyone in the hot seat against the clock. Choose your game length, pick teams or go solo, and let the app run the whole show. It reads out the questions, keeps score and builds the tension, so nobody sits out to referee. Beat the buzzer or get Outsmarted. This is game night with the buzz of a real TV studio right in your living room.
- KIDS VS TEENS VS ADULTS, NOW ANYONE CAN WIN: The game reads each player's age and adjusts question difficulty automatically, so a nine year old and a grandparent get a fair fight. Kids get their level, teens get theirs, adults get the tough ones. Play with 2 to 24 people, from a quiet night for two to a full house at Christmas. Everyone stays in it to the final question, and for once the grown-ups do not get the easy ride. A level playing field that keeps the whole room competing.
- 10,000+ QUESTIONS THAT STAY RIGHT UP TO DATE: The 2026 Edition packs more than 10,000 multimedia questions across ten core categories, and the content never goes stale. Fresh topical questions are added regularly and the Breaking News category refreshes every week, so if it happened recently it could come up tonight. From Quick Thinking to Back to School and Lifestyle and Culture, the mix stays balanced for the whole family and current with the world outside your door.
- WORKS WITH THE DEVICES YOU ALREADY OWN: Run the free app on iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet, or a Windows 10 and 11 laptop. Connect up to six devices as handheld buzzers so every team gets their own controller, then stream the whole show to almost any Smart TV for the full big-screen effect. A folding stand for your phone or tablet is in the box. There is nothing extra to buy to start playing, and every future app update is included at no cost, so the game keeps getting better over time.
- JOIN OVER ONE MILLION FAMILIES PLAYING OUTSMARTED: This is the game families reach for when they want a real night together, off the silent scrolling and solo screens. It gets three generations laughing, groaning and competing around one board. A personal license key and free lifetime support come with every copy, plus a growing library of free bonus categories in the app. Real questions, real laughs, real time together. That is why the Outsmarted community keeps growing.
That distinction matters when judging a quiz’s success. A reader who gets a correction question right may remember the correction later, but the result alone cannot show that the underlying false belief has disappeared.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- UPDATED TRIVIAL PURSUIT GAME: The world's iconic trivia game with exciting updates! Play faster, discover fresh ways to earn a wedge, steal questions, play everyone vs. the deck, and more. For 1-6+ players, ages 13+
- 1,200 INTRIGUING QUESTIONS: Everyone's an expert in something! This highly replayable board game for adults and teens levels the playing field with modern, accessible, and super fun trivia in 6 classic categories
- MORE CHANCES TO EARN WEDGES: Fresh spaces on the board let players choose from 2 categories, pick ANY category, steal questions from opponents, and beat others to All-Play answers
- CO-OP, TEAMS & SOLO MODES: Choose to play individually, as teams, everyone vs. the deck in cooperative game mode, or as a 1 player game in solo mode
- COOL UPDATED LOOK: Includes a redesigned gameboard with modern, neon graphics; 36 colorful wedges; 6 wedge holders; 1 die; and 200 cards
How to tell whether a news quiz is worth your attention
- Look for grounded answers. Important figures should be tied to dependable evidence, not presented as self-evident facts.
- Read the explanation, not just the score. Feedback helps connect the answer to the underlying story.
- Separate your confidence from what you learned. Feeling more knowledgeable can be engaging, but it is not a substitute for checking what you can actually recall or explain.
- Treat time spent as a clue, not proof. A longer visit says something about attention, not necessarily comprehension.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
