One of our goals when we moved to Maine was finding a trivia night we could go to regularly. Thanks to friends we’ve made, we found a company whose trivia game play has become our favorite. They’re called Raise the Bar Trivia and they have games all around Southern Maine, New Hampshire and even into areas of Massachusetts, including Newburyport. Along the way, we found our favorite trivia host, Scott “That Trivia Guy.” Since we’ve been playing trivia with Raise the Bar for over a year, I figure it was high time to write this review as a complement to our other trivia-related articles, which I’ll link to at the end of this post.
Raise the Bar Trivia
At this point, we’ve played Raise the Bar Trivia (formerly Game Time Trivia) in almost a dozen different locations in York County as well as Southern New Hampshire. The latter was when we couldn’t find a game in Maine that worked for our schedule. Those Maine locations include Feile in Wells, Pepper’s Landing in Ogunquit, plus Sebago Brewing and Duffy’s in Kennebunk. At one point Raise the Bar had a game in Kennebunk’s Lower Village at Federal Jack’s as well as the Burleigh Pub in the Kennebunkport Inn in Dock Square but both of those games are no longer on the schedule.
While the format has been the same for all Raise the Bar trivia games, each host has put their own spin on the night. And after ending up at Pepper’s Landing on a random Tuesday night and playing a game with Scott, we knew we’d found our favorite quiz master for trivia. So, while this is a general overview of Raise the Bar Trivia, your experience may differ with their hosts at different locations.
Game Structure
Every week, the Raise the Bar Trivia’s host comes prepared with worksheets, random pictures and music for the name-that-tune round. There’s even a pregame round to keep you busy as other teams settle in.
All told, with Raise the Bar there are eight rounds of trivia. They are organized with a nod towards a football game but don’t worry: the trivia is about way more than just sports though you will need some sports knowledge from time to time. Here is how that format shakes out:
- Pregame
- First quarter
- Second quarter
- Halftime
- Third quarter
- Fourth quarter
- Two-minute warning
- Hail Mary
Halftime is the name-that-tune-like round. One night it was all ’80s music and this MTV-generation GenXer knew every song. Also, you get extra points if you know the artist, too. I did. Each host handles the music round differently. Some have themes. Others don’t.
Besides the music round, my second favorite round is Third Quarter or Picture Round. It is a themed picture puzzle. You need to identify all of the items shown that are somehow connected.
For example, one time we had to decipher all of the frozen treats in the picture above. I was the only one who knew the Cookie Puss cake from Carvel — thank you, Beastie Boys for your “Cookie Puss” song from 1983, the year I graduated high school.
Earning Points
Going back to the Music Round, this is a round where you can potentially earn 25 points towards your team’s total. That’s because you get one point for the song, one point for the artist and Scott likes to give five extra points if you know the exact year a certain song debuted. I’m still kicking myself for writing 1979 for the year “Rock Lobster” from the B-52s came out. It was actually 1978.
During the Pyramid Round, you can earn as much as 21 points. That’s because the questions along the bottom of the pyramid are worth one point and then as you go up the pyramid, the answers are worth even more points. The top question is worth five points. If you’ve been trailing in the rankings, this round really gives you the chance to improve your standings.
Finally, during the Hail Mary round, which is the last round of the night, you can bet points. There are three questions and you can bet between one point and 10 points for each answer. Get the answer right, and you earn those points. But get the answer wrong, and you’ll have those points subtracted from your total. We tend to take a “go big or go home” approach to the Hail Mary round, betting 10 points consistently. Sometimes it works in our favor. Other times, it’s a spectacular fall from grace.
Trivia for All Age Groups
One of the tricks we’ve learned in playing trivia now for over a year and with a few different companies is this: put together a team with people of different ages. That way you can pool your generational knowledge.
For instance, one time the picture round was all about video games. We don’t play video games. However, our millennial daughter does. And if she had been with us, I’m confident she would have helped us score well on that round.
Speaking of that millennial daughter, when she and her GenZ sister were visiting for Christmas one year, we went to trivia together. That night, the Pyramid Round was all about Taylor Swift songs. Needless to say, they knew every answer.
That being said, unlike other places where we’ve played trivia that skew much older or much younger, the quiz masters who write the Raise the Bar game each week have a pretty good balance of questions that anyone who follows the news or pop culture, regardless of age, should be able to answer.
The whole game usually lasts between 90 minutes and two hours. You’ll have so much fun you won’t even realize that much time has gone by. I’m always sad when I realize it’s already the fourth quarter, which means it will be time to go home soon.
Trivia is always free to play but since it’s held at bars and restaurants, you should order food and tip the wait staff well.
Raise the Bar Trivia Schedule
As I mentioned earlier, Raise the Bar Trivia has games in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Games typically start at 7 pm although a few venues start earlier at 6 or 6:30. Check the Raise the Bar Trivia Facebook page for updates to the schedule. Also, here is a link to Scott’s Facebook page, in case you’d like to find out where and when he hosts games in the area.
While I’ve included the games in our ongoing calendar of events, which appears at the bottom of this article, here is the company’s schedule for Maine only, as of this writing (August 2025). Also, note: there is no trivia anywhere from this company on Fridays.
Monday Trivia
- Austin Street Brewing, Portland
- Sebago Brewing, Kennebunk
- Osprey Pub/Atlantic Pines Golf, Wells
Tuesday Trivia
- Birdies Tavern, Old Orchard Beach
- Peppers Landing Seafood, Ogunquit
- Mill Towne Tavern, Sanford
- Pat’s Pizza, Scarborough
Wednesday Trivia
- Bissell Brothers, Portland
Thursday Trivia
- Feile Pub, Wells
- Coppersmith Tavern, South Portland
- Duffy’s Tavern, Kennebunk
Saturday Trivia
- Shipyard Brewpub, Eliot
Sunday Trivia
- Bramhall Speakeasy, Portland
Finally, other places to play trivia include:
Triva Team Names
Since we first started playing trivia, we’ve cycled through a few trivia team names. For a long time we played as Whiskey Business. However, recently we tried trivia at the Wells Library — it was awesome! Since there were children there, we didn’t think a team name with alcohol in it was appropriate. So we played as Joey Trivianni, a name that, to be completely honest, we stole from another team we once played against at a pub. That is our all-time favorite name, to be sure, but we are still trying some others out, including:
- Berry Christmas (for the holidays)
- Quizzie Borden
- Trivia Newton John
- La Triviata
Would love your thoughts on team names.
Leave a Reply