Guess The Year Quiz: 30 Rounds Of Clues

Read three clues, teams write down a year, and the closest wins the point. Nobody gets blanked out, because everybody can guess.

This is the single best format for a mixed-age room.

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How to run it

  • Three clues per year, read one at a time with a pause between.
  • Two points for the exact year, one point for within two years either way.
  • Teams write the year down before you read the next set - no changing it.
  • Fifteen years is a full round. Thirty is a whole evening.
  • Mix the decades up rather than going in order, or people count forwards.
  • For a care home or reminiscence session, use years from the players' teens and twenties and read the clues slowly.

Set one

  1. Decimalisation came in. The Open University began teaching. Ibrox disaster.
  2. Britain joined the EEC. The Sydney Opera House opened. The three-day week was announced.
  3. The Silver Jubilee. Star Wars released. Elvis Presley died.
  4. Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister. The Winter of Discontent. Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize.
  5. John Lennon was shot. The Rubik's Cube reached Britain. The Iranian Embassy siege.

Set two

  • 6. Charles and Diana married. The first London Marathon. Riots in Brixton and Toxteth.
  • 7. The Falklands War. Channel 4 launched. Spain hosted the World Cup.
  • 8. The miners' strike began. Band Aid recorded. The Brighton bombing.
  • 9. Live Aid. EastEnders began. The Heysel and Bradford disasters.
  • 10. Chernobyl. Halley's Comet. The Big Bang deregulated the City.

Set three

  • 11. The Great Storm. Black Monday. Kings Cross fire.
  • 12. Lockerbie. Seoul Olympics. The Piper Alpha disaster.
  • 13. The Berlin Wall fell. Hillsborough. The Simpsons began.
  • 14. Germany reunified. Thatcher resigned. Italia 90.
  • 15. The Soviet Union dissolved. Freddie Mercury died. Nirvana released Nevermind.

Set four

  • 16. The Maastricht Treaty. Black Wednesday. Windsor Castle fire.
  • 17. The National Lottery launched. The Channel Tunnel opened. Ayrton Senna died.
  • 18. Blur versus Oasis. The Srebrenica massacre. Windows 95.
  • 19. Dolly the sheep. Euro 96. The Dunblane shootings.
  • 20. Diana died. Tony Blair won the election. Hong Kong returned to China.

Set five

  • 21. The Good Friday Agreement. France won the World Cup. Google was founded.
  • 22. The euro launched as a currency. The solar eclipse crossed Cornwall. The Matrix released.
  • 23. The Millennium Dome opened. Fuel protests. The Sydney Olympics.
  • 24. The September 11 attacks. Foot and mouth disease. The first iPod.
  • 25. The Golden Jubilee. The euro entered circulation. Pop Idol's first winner.

Set six

  • 26. London won the 2012 Olympics. Live 8. The 7 July bombings.
  • 27. The smoking ban in England. Northern Rock. The first iPhone.
  • 28. The financial crisis. Barack Obama elected. The Beijing Olympics.
  • 29. The MPs' expenses scandal. Michael Jackson died. Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture.
  • 30. The coalition government formed. The Icelandic ash cloud. The Chilean mine rescue.

Answers

  • 1 1971. 2 1973. 3 1977. 4 1979. 5 1980.
  • 6 1981. 7 1982. 8 1984. 9 1985. 10 1986.
  • 11 1987. 12 1988. 13 1989. 14 1990. 15 1991.
  • 16 1992. 17 1994. 18 1995. 19 1996. 20 1997.
  • 21 1998. 22 1999. 23 2000. 24 2001. 25 2002.
  • 26 2005. 27 2007. 28 2008. 29 2009. 30 2010.

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How to write it so it lands

  • Two points exact, one point within two years.
  • Mix the decades up so nobody counts forwards.
  • Best format there is for a mixed-age room.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you score a guess the year quiz?

Two points for the exact year, one for within two years either side. It keeps everyone in the game and rewards the people who actually know.

How many years should I use?

Fifteen for a single round, thirty for a full evening. Any more and the format wears thin.

Is this good for a mixed-age party?

It's the best format there is for one. Nobody can be shut out of a question they can guess at, so the youngest and oldest players both stay involved.

Do you sell quiz packs?

No - we make greeting cards, prints and pin badges. Everything here is free to use.

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