Seminary Showdown: A Teacher's Guide to the Free 5-Minute Seminary Review Game

Seminary Showdown is a free scripture game for seminary that takes about five minutes. Every week it gives you 10 timed questions from that week's reading, one double-points question, and a 2-minute discussion prompt that turns the energy of the game into a real conversation. Students can play on their phones, or you can project it and let the class shout the answers.

This guide covers how to set it up, the ways to play, what each screen does, and why short, friendly competition helps students remember what they study.

What Seminary Showdown is

Each weekly round follows the same rhythm:

• 10 questions, about 20 seconds each, built from the week's chapters.
• A mix of question types: finish the verse, true or false, "picture it," scripture detective, a Book of Mormon connection, and more.
• A double-points question, often a Doctrinal Mastery review where students put the phrases of a passage in order.
• A closest-number tiebreaker, such as "Which chapter of 1 Nephi quotes Isaiah 49?"
• A 2-minute discussion prompt to finish, tied to a key verse from the week.

After each question, a short explanation appears on screen. That way, a missed answer still teaches something.

Old Testament rounds are live for the rest of 2026. All 52 New Testament rounds for 2027 are ready, starting with Matthew 1 and Luke 1 on December 28. The 2027 rounds add a Boss Round, map rounds, "Who said it?", a Scripture Chase bonus and a printable season certificate.

How to set it up in under a minute

1. Open weakthings.com/pages/seminary-showdown on the computer connected to your projector or TV.
2. Choose Old Testament 2026 or New Testament 2027, then tap this week's lesson.
3. Choose how your class will play: Students on phones or Projector only.
4. If you like, turn on Play as two teams (row vs. row) and name the teams.
5. Type a class name for your score card. You can add a city and state too. Then tap Start.

Way 1: students play on their phones

Choose Students on phones and a lobby appears with a QR code and a four-letter room code. Students scan the code, or go to the Seminary Showdown page and type the room code, then pick a nickname. No accounts, no app and no email. Each name appears on your screen as the student joins, and you can tap a name to remove it if someone gets creative.

When everyone is in, tap Start the showdown. The question appears on the big screen and the answer buttons appear on every phone. A correct answer earns 100 points, plus up to 50 more for speed, and the double-points question is worth twice that. After each question you see how many students picked each answer, the explanation, and a live top five.

Tip: Have students put their phones face down as soon as the final question ends. The discussion prompt works best when phones are away (see "A note about phones" below).

Way 2: projector only, with row-vs-row teams

No phones? Phones not allowed in your building? Choose Projector only. The class calls out answers and you tap them. Turn on row vs. row, and the two teams take turns while the screen keeps score for each side.

Projector mode also works well for:

• Small classes, home-study groups and online classes with a shared screen.
• Mornings when Wi-Fi is unreliable.
• Teachers who would rather keep phones out of class entirely.

The double-points round and the tiebreaker

One question in every round is worth double points. Often it's a Doctrinal Mastery review: students put the phrases of a passage such as Joshua 24:15 in the right order. Each round ends with a closest-number tiebreaker, so a team that's behind still has a chance at the end.

If your class is working on a Doctrinal Mastery passage, practice it first with Line upon Line class mode. The double-points question then becomes a quick check of what they just learned.

Results, discussion and your class score card

When the round ends, the results screen shows:

• Your class's total and how many of the 10 questions it got right.
• Team scores in row-vs-row mode, or the top finishers in phone mode.
• How many rounds you've played this season on that device, and your weekly streak.
• A 2-minute discussion question tied to a key verse from the week. For Isaiah 40–49 it is Isaiah 41:10: "When have you, or someone you know, felt that kind of help during a hard time?"
• A downloadable score card with your class name, so you can challenge another class.

Download the score card and post it in your seminary teacher group with "Can your class beat ours?" A little friendly rivalry between classes is a great reason for students to come back next week.

Why a 5-minute game works

Seminary Showdown is short and simple on purpose, but the format is built on well-studied ideas from education research.

Answering questions helps students remember

Being asked to recall something strengthens memory more than reading it again. In one well-known study, students who practiced recalling a passage remembered 61% of it a week later, compared with 40% for students who reread it. A meta-analysis of 272 effects found practice tests outperformed rereading, and the effect was strongest for students in grades 7–12 (g = 0.83), which is seminary age. Every question in a showdown is a small practice test, and students experience it as a game.

Games and friendly competition help, especially in teams

A meta-analysis of gamification in education found positive effects on learning (g = 0.49). Competition combined with collaboration, such as teams competing against each other, was singled out as especially effective. A separate review found that digital games improved learning compared with non-game instruction (g = 0.33). Another found games worked better over multiple sessions and when students played in groups, which is exactly how a weekly row-vs-row showdown works. In one controlled study, adding competition to a learning game raised both test scores and motivation.

Live phone quizzes keep the whole room involved

A review of 93 studies of Kahoot!, a similar live quiz tool, found that 70% of the studies that tested learning statistically reported significant gains. Many also reported better participation and classroom atmosphere, and most of the studies that looked at anxiety found it went down. The novelty doesn't wear off quickly, either. After five months of using a live quiz in every class, 89% of students still said they were engaged and found it fun. Research on classroom clickers adds a fair caution: the tool's effect on learning is small but significant. How a teacher uses it matters more than the tool itself.

The discussion prompt does real work

Seminary Showdown ends with a discussion question instead of just a winner. In a study published in Science, students who discussed a question with peers answered correctly 16 percentage points more often afterward. They also did better on a new, similar question answered alone. More broadly, a review of 225 studies found that active learning cut failure rates from 33.8% with lecture to 21.8%. Those were college science courses, but the principle holds: students learn more when they do something with what they hear.

A note about phones

Nearly every teen has a phone. Pew Research reports that 95% of U.S. teens have or can use a smartphone. Phones can also hurt learning. In one study, allowing devices in a college lecture for non-class use lowered end-of-term exam scores by at least 5%, even for students who didn't use them.

That's why Seminary Showdown uses phones for one short, focused task and then hands the room back to you. Our suggestion: phones out for the showdown, face down for the discussion, away for the lesson. If your class or building is phone-free, projector mode gives you the same game.

Seven ways to use Seminary Showdown

1. Opening warm-up. Five minutes of energy at 6:15 a.m. helps a sleepy class wake up.
2. Friday review. Play the week's round to review the chapters before the weekend.
3. Pre-reading hook. Play on Monday before you teach, and come back to the missed questions during the lesson.
4. Row vs. row. Let the two sides of the room compete. Switch the teams up each week so the same group doesn't always win.
5. Class vs. class. Share your score card with another seminary class in your stake and compare totals.
6. Substitute plan. The game runs itself, so it's an easy, meaningful plan to leave for a substitute.
7. Home study and online classes. Share your screen and play in projector mode, or send students the room code.

Questions teachers ask

How much does Seminary Showdown cost?

Nothing. It's free, with no paid tier, and students don't need accounts.

What do students need to join?

Any phone with a web browser. They scan the QR code, or go to the Seminary Showdown page and enter the four-letter code, then pick a nickname. Game rooms expire after a few hours.

Can I play a week other than the current one?

Yes. Every week is open, so you can preview a lesson, catch up on a missed week or review earlier chapters.

How long does a round take?

About five minutes for the 10 questions, plus about two minutes for the discussion question.

Is Seminary Showdown an official Church resource?

No. It's an independent study game made by Weak Things. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Use it alongside the official seminary curriculum.

Try it this week

Open Seminary Showdown, pick this week's lesson and play the first round with your class. If you're teaching a Doctrinal Mastery passage too, pair it with Line upon Line. For more free games teachers can use, see our guide to free seminary games.

Sources

• Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning. Psychological Science, 17, 249–255. https://learninglab.psych.purdue.edu/downloads/2006/2006_Roediger_Karpicke_PsychSci.pdf
• Adesope, O. O., Trevisan, D. A., & Sundararajan, N. (2017). Rethinking the use of tests. Review of Educational Research, 87(3). https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316689306
• Sailer, M., & Homner, L. (2020). The gamification of learning: A meta-analysis. Educational Psychology Review, 32. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1245270
• Clark, D. B., Tanner-Smith, E. E., & Killingsworth, S. S. (2016). Digital games, design, and learning. Review of Educational Research, 86(1). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4748544/
• Wouters, P., et al. (2013). A meta-analysis of the cognitive and motivational effects of serious games. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(2). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1008015
• Cagiltay, N. E., Ozcelik, E., & Ozcelik, N. S. (2015). The effect of competition on learning in games. Computers & Education, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.04.001
• Wang, A. I., & Tahir, R. (2020). The effect of using Kahoot! for learning: A literature review. Computers & Education, 149. https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/39435/1/1-s2.0-S0360131520300208-main.pdf
• Wang, A. I. (2015). The wear out effect of a game-based student response system. Computers & Education, 82. https://folk.idi.ntnu.no/alfw/publications/2015-computers_and_education_wear_out_effect.pdf
• Hunsu, N. J., Adesope, O., & Bayly, D. J. (2016). A meta-analysis of the effects of audience response systems (clicker-based technologies). Computers & Education, 94. https://rex.libraries.wsu.edu/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/A-meta-analysis-of-the-effects-of/99900601053501842
• Smith, M. K., et al. (2009). Why peer discussion improves student performance on in-class concept questions. Science, 323(5910). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19119232/
• Freeman, S., et al. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. PNAS, 111(23). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24821756/
• Glass, A. L., & Kang, M. (2019). Dividing attention in the classroom reduces exam performance. Educational Psychology, 39(3). https://www.rutgers.edu/news/cellphone-distraction-classroom-can-lead-lower-grades-rutgers-study-finds
• Pew Research Center (2024). Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2024/12/12/teens-social-media-and-technology-2024/