You do not need a TV
A laptop on the kitchen bench works perfectly. So does an iPad against the fruit bowl. The big screen makes it feel like an event, but nobody has ever complained about a party for having the wrong screen.
Pick one
Five ways in
They all end in the same place. Start at the top: the further down you go, the more fiddly it gets.
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01
A cable from your laptop
Easiest
The one that always works, has no wifi involved, and cannot buffer.
- Plug an HDMI cable from your laptop into the TV.
- Press Source or Input on the TV remote until you see your laptop.
- Open partyplay.com.au/tv and type in your party code.
- Press F11 for full screen. On a Mac, the green dot, top left.
Need: an HDMI cable, or a USB-C to HDMI adapter for about $15.
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02
Your TV's own browser
No cable
Most Samsung, LG and Android TVs have a browser hidden in the apps menu. Typing with a remote is annoying, so do this before people arrive. You only have to do it once: the screen remembers your code afterwards.
- Find Internet, Web Browser or Browser in the TV's apps.
- Go to partyplay.com.au/tv and type your code into the big box.
- Bookmark it. Next year is one click.
Need: a smart TV with a browser. Older sets and most Sonys do not have one.
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03
Chromecast or Google TV
Wireless
- Open partyplay.com.au/tv in Chrome on your laptop and put your code in.
- Three dots, top right, then Cast.
- Choose your TV, then Cast tab.
Cast the tab, not the screen. Casting the whole screen means everyone watches your notifications arrive.
Need: laptop and Chromecast on the same wifi.
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04
Apple TV or AirPlay
Wireless
- Open partyplay.com.au/tv on your Mac or iPad and put your code in.
- Screen Mirroring in the menu bar, or swipe down on an iPad.
- Pick your Apple TV. Many newer Samsungs and LGs take AirPlay with no Apple TV at all.
Need: an Apple device, and an Apple TV or an AirPlay TV.
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05
No TV at all
Perfectly fine
Put a laptop or tablet where everyone can see it, open partyplay.com.au/tv, and run the party from your phone. Under about fifteen people this is genuinely all you need.
Need: nothing you do not already have.
Worth knowing
As many screens as you like
The screen link is not tied to one device. Open it on the telly, on a laptop in the kitchen and on an iPad by the drinks, and all three show the same thing at the same moment. No extra cost and no limit.
Worth doing if your place has a room the telly cannot reach. People drift, and a second screen keeps them in the game instead of wandering off.
The pieces
Three screens
Your phone is the remote. You start each game, move it along, and see who is winning. Keep it in your hand.
The big screen is the show. It shows the code, the numbers as they are called, and the scores. It needs nothing from anyone.
Everyone else's phone is their ticket. They scan the code or type it in, put in a name, and they are playing. No app, no sign up, no passwords.
There is a camera button on every guest's phone, and a video one under it. Photos, and 30 second messages for whoever the night is about. It all lands in your album and you can download the lot afterwards. Worth mentioning when you read out the code, because nobody goes looking for a button they do not know is there.
Guests who arrive late can join mid-game. They have not missed their chance.
If it goes wrong
Six quick fixes
- The TV browser will not load the pageOlder smart TV browsers struggle. Do not fight it: use the HDMI cable. Two minutes, and it always works.
- Guests say the code does not workCheck they are on the right screen, and that your party has actually been started. The code only works once you have pressed start.
- Someone's phone dropped outThey reload and put in the same name. They pick up where they were, with their card and their score.
- The house wifi is strugglingGuests can use their own mobile data, it barely uses any. If the TV is on a cable rather than casting, wobbly wifi will not stop the show.
- The TV went to sleepTurn off the screen saver before you start, or on a laptop set it to never sleep while plugged in.
- It looks small on the TVFull screen the browser. F11 on Windows, the green dot on a Mac.
Two of the games
Need a screen turned away
Everything on this page is about getting a screen up. These two are the
opposite: one person in the room has to be unable to see one.
- CharadesThe word goes to the actor’s phone and nowhere else.
Nothing appears on the television, so the room can watch without being handed
the answer. Whoever is acting should keep their phone to themselves.
- Who am I?The answer goes on the television and on every phone
except the person guessing. Sit them with their back to the screen, and
remind the room not to say it out loud.
The host console makes you tap past this before the first
round, so you cannot miss it on the night. It is here because it is easier to
move a chair before people arrive than after.
Twenty minutes before
Six things
- Get the screen working with nobody watching. The only part worth doing early.
- Run one game with yourself as the only player, so the first one in front of people is not your first ever.
- Plug the laptop in. A dead battery halfway through the bingo is a sad way to end a game.
- Turn off the screen saver on the TV or the laptop.
- Decide what they are playing for and put it somewhere everyone can see it.
- If you are playing charades or Who am I, work out where that person
will sit so they cannot see the telly.