How to Make a Jeopardy Game on PowerPoint (Step by Step)

A quiz-show board is a brilliant way to wake up a room. Teachers use it for revision, trainers use it to check what stuck, and I've seen small teams use it to make a dull product-knowledge session the most popular meeting of the month.

PowerPoint has no game template button for this, but it doesn't need one. The whole thing runs on internal links: click a square on the board, jump to that question, then click back to the board. Here's how to build it from scratch using the linking tools Microsoft documents.

Planning your PowerPoint Jeopardy board

Sketch the game before you open PowerPoint. The classic layout is a grid of categories across the top with questions getting harder as you go down each column.

• Pick 5 categories, or fewer for a short session.
• Write 5 clues per category, from easiest to hardest.
• Decide point values in words or numbers on the board, such as one hundred up to five hundred.
• Write the answer to every clue, because each clue gets its own answer slide.

With 5 categories of 5 clues, you'll need one board slide, plus a clue slide and an answer slide for each square. It sounds like a lot, but most of the work is copy and paste.

Building the game board slide in PowerPoint

You can use a table or separate shapes. Shapes are easier to link, so that's what I'd use:

1. Add a new slide with a Title Only or Blank layout.
2. Type your category names in a row of text boxes across the top.
3. Go to Insert, Shapes, and draw a rectangle for the first square. Type its point value in it.
4. Copy and paste the rectangle to fill the grid, then change the values down each column.

If you'd rather start with a table, go to Insert, choose Table and highlight the columns and rows you want, or click Insert Table and type the numbers. Microsoft's help notes you can link selected text, so you'd link the value text in each cell rather than the cell itself.

Creating the clue and answer slides

1. Add a slide after the board with the first clue in large text.
2. Add the answer slide straight after it.
3. Duplicate this pair for every clue, then edit the text.
4. Give each slide a clear title, such as the category and value, so you can find it in the link list later.

Those titles matter more than you'd think. When you come to link the squares, PowerPoint lists slides by title, and a list of identical untitled slides is a nightmare to work through.

Linking board squares to clue slides in PowerPoint

This is the step that turns slides into a game. On Windows:

1. On the board, select the first square.
2. Select Insert, then Link, then Insert Link.
3. Choose Place in This Document.
4. Pick that square's clue slide from the list and select OK.
5. Repeat for every square.

On a Mac, the path is Insert, Link, then This Document, and you choose the slide under Select a place in this document. In PowerPoint for the web, select Insert, Link, then This Presentation, pick the slide and select Insert.

To check a link without starting the show, right-click it in Normal view and select Open Hyperlink.

Adding buttons to reveal the answer and return to the board

Every clue slide needs a way to the answer, and every answer slide needs a way home. Action buttons do this neatly:

1. On the clue slide, go to Insert, Shapes, and choose a shape under Action Buttons at the bottom of the menu.
2. Drag to draw it. The Action Settings box opens.
3. On the Mouse Click tab, choose Hyperlink to and pick Next Slide, which is the answer.
4. On the answer slide, draw another button or shape and link it back to the board slide with Insert, Link, Place in This Document.

Action Settings also has a Play sound check box, so you can add a fanfare when the answer appears. Use it sparingly, though, or the room will get tired of it by round three.

Running your PowerPoint quiz game smoothly

Problem	Fix
Clicking the slide skips to the next clue	Only click the links and buttons, never empty space
Hard to see which squares are used	Keep a paper scorecard and tick off squares as you go
A link goes to the wrong slide	Right-click it, select Open Hyperlink in Normal view and correct it
Running out of time	Drop a category or skip the hardest row

In Set Up Slide Show on the Slide Show tab, check that Advance slides is set to Manually, so timings left over from another deck don't move things on by themselves.

A tip from experience: keep the scores on a whiteboard or a notepad rather than in the deck. It's quicker and you won't risk clicking out of the game.

Using a PowerPoint quiz game for training and team events

For business owners, this format works brilliantly for onboarding new staff, product launches and customer workshops. People remember what they had to compete for. Once your template is built, you can swap in new questions for every session.

Running it remotely? Share your screen and let teams shout out, or ask people to vote on answers with a quick poll in Messenger if your group chats there. And for a celebration screen at the end, a confetti GIF made in Canva drops onto a final slide nicely.

Frequently asked questions

Does PowerPoint have a Jeopardy template?

Microsoft's help doesn't describe a built-in quiz-show template. You build the game yourself with a board slide and links to each clue.

How do I link a square to a question slide?

Select the square, choose Insert, Link, Insert Link, then Place in This Document, pick the clue slide and select OK.

How do I get back to the board after a question?

Add a button or shape on each answer slide and link it to the board slide with Insert, Link, Place in This Document.

Can I add sound effects to my PowerPoint game?

Yes. Action Settings on an action button has a Play sound check box where you can choose a sound.

Will the game work in PowerPoint for the web?

The linking works there too: select Insert, Link, then This Presentation and choose the slide. Test every link before you play.