Pass and Play: How We Built Local Multiplayer Into BIBL
Three weeks before launch, our QA lead Sarah messaged the team: 'My mum wants to play against my dad on the sofa, but there's no way to do it.' She was right. We had all the pieces. What we were missing was permission.
The problem we were trying to solve
When we started building BIBL, the vision was always competitive. Bible trivia works best when you're racing against someone else, when the stakes matter. But we also knew our audience: families gathered at dinner, church groups in a vestry, couples wanting something to do on a Sunday afternoon. These people don't need fancy networking. They need to pass a device around.
The temptation was to launch with everything wired for online play. That's what most game studios do now. But online multiplayer requires accounts, sign-ups, matchmaking servers. It's friction. For a free game, that's a barrier we didn't want to build.
Instead, we asked ourselves: what if Pass and Play was the entry point? What if someone could download BIBL, open it, hand the phone or tablet to their mate, and play three rounds before dinner got cold? No accounts. No waiting for opponents online. Just two people and a question.
What Pass and Play actually is
In BIBL, Pass and Play is exactly what it sounds. You set up a game, choose how many players, pick your question pack, and then you pass the device. One person reads the question and the four answer options. They tap their answer. The device passes control to the next player, who does the same. No one sees anyone else's screen while they're answering. After everyone has answered, the round reveals who got it right and updates the scores.
We built it into the Free tier because we wanted zero barriers. You don't need a subscription. You don't need an internet connection. You need Genesis Pack questions, which every player gets when they download. That's it.
The feature itself is deceptively simple. Behind the scenes, we lock the screen during answer selection so no one accidentally sees what the previous player tapped. The timer runs for everyone equally. Scores accumulate across rounds. But the player experience is just passing the device and taking your turn. Human. Direct.
Why this matters more than it sounds
Local multiplayer doesn't get much attention anymore. Everyone's chasing live matchmaking and global leaderboards. But we've learned something from watching how people actually use BIBL: they want to play with people in the same room. They want to see their friend's face when they get a question wrong. They want to trash talk about Old Testament knowledge over coffee.
Pass and Play also matters because it lets people try BIBL without commitment. A family plays one round on someone's phone at the table. Someone asks, 'Can I get this on my device?' Yes. Download it free. Try Genesis Pack questions. If they want more packs, more features, those are there. But the entry point is frictionless.
We also chose to keep Pass and Play free because competition is more fun with people you know. That's not a marketing line. That's just true. Your mate got a Bible question wrong because they've never read Kings; that's funny. A stranger online got it wrong; that's just a stat. We wanted BIBL to be the first option when people say, 'Let's play something while we're together.' Not the backup plan.
The design decisions that make it work
Building Pass and Play forced us to think about screen control carefully. The obvious question was: how many players can you have? We settled on supporting multiple players (up to what a comfortable pass-around allows) without making it confusing. The device needs to know whose turn it is, when the timer's running, when to lock input.
We also had to think about the question banks. Pass and Play doesn't require internet, so the questions have to be on device. That's why it uses Genesis Pack questions. They're verified, they don't depend on live data, and there are enough of them to feel fresh across multiple games. If you upgrade to Basic or Pro, you unlock more packs and can use those in Pass and Play too.
One thing we deliberately didn't build: chat or commentary during play. Some games let you trash talk in real time. We kept it simple. The game speaks for itself. The questions are clear. The scores are plain. Your reaction to someone else's answer is live and unfiltered, sitting next to them. That's the actual multiplayer moment.
What people actually use it for
Since launch, we've watched how Pass and Play gets used. Church groups use it during small group meetings. Families use it on holidays. We've had messages from people using it as an icebreaker at gatherings. One person told us they run BIBL trivia nights at their local pub, renting a tablet and running multiple games in an evening.
The common thread is that it removes friction between deciding to play and actually playing. No one has to learn a new social platform. No one's watching ads before they can compete. You own a device. You want to test your Bible knowledge against a friend. Here it is.
That simplicity also means people aren't distracted by game mechanics. They're not worried about the UI or the flow. They're focused on the question and on beating the person next to them. That's the product working right.
Pass and Play won't make BIBL into a global phenomenon or rack up millions of daily active users. But it might be the reason someone downloads it at all, and the reason they come back. When was the last time you played something competitive in the same room as someone you actually know?