Quiz bowl is a club game in which two teams compete head-to-head to answer questions from all areas of knowledge including history, literature, science, fine arts, current events, sports, and popular culture. The game is played with a lockout buzzer system between two teams consisting of four players each. Players are read questions and try to score pointsfor their team by buzzing first and responding with the correct answer.

 

There are two basic types of questions in copmetition: toss-ups and bonuses. Toss-ups are questions that any individual player can attempt to answer without confering with other players. If the answer given is incorrect, then no other member of that team may give an answer. However, the opposing team may attempt an answer. When a toss-up is successfully answered, the correctly answering team is given an opportunity to answer a bonus. Bonuses are usually worth a total of 30 points, and consist of three individual questions worth ten points each. Team members are permitted to confer with each other on bonus questions.