# Catechumens, Depart! > A live trivia game for Orthodox Christian parish groups, made by RFT Media. The questions go up on a TV or projector in the parish hall, and everyone answers on their own phone. Players join in the browser with a four-letter code or a QR code; no app or account is needed. ## How a game works - The host opens a room on their phone, picks the subjects and the length, and puts the Big Screen link on a TV, projector or laptop. - Up to 40 players join by scanning the QR code or typing the code and a first name. - Every phone and the big screen run on one clock. Each question gets twenty seconds; a right answer scores 100 points, and a faster right answer scores up to 50 more. - After each question the reveal shows the right answer with a short explanation and its source. - Teams: Cradles vs. Converts, Father vs. the Parish, the Choir vs. the Pews, Left Side vs. Right Side, Youth vs. Coffee Hour, one team per table (3 to 8), or names the host types in. Team scores are averages, so a small team can win. - Every player for themselves: each phone shows its own place, and the big screen reveals third, second and first at the end. Ties go to whoever answered faster on the questions they got right. - The host can pause the clock and skip ahead. A player who loses their connection rejoins with the same name and keeps their score. ## Between game nights - The Daily Question: one question a day, the same for everyone. On a feast it is about the feast, on the New or the Old Calendar. - The Ladder: eight subjects, ten questions each; eight right climbs to the next. - Study: go through a subject card by card with each answer's explanation and source. ## The questions - Subjects: Feasts and Fasts, The Saints, Holy Scripture, The Divine Liturgy, The Holy Mysteries, Hymns, The Councils, Church History. - Pan-Orthodox: nearly every question is true in any Orthodox church. The few about local practice are marked Antiochian, Greek or Slavic, and a parish sees only its own tradition's. - Each question cites a source a priest can check: Scripture, a council, a Church Father or a service text. Orthodox clergy approve, change or remove each one; until then the game marks it Draft. Two player reports take a question out of play until it is checked. ## Cost Players never pay. Playing on any phone, in the app or the browser, is free: full rooms of 40, the Daily Question, the Ladder and Study. A yearly parish license puts the game on the big screen (the TV or projector in the hall). One code covers every host in the parish and two big screens at once. It is sold only on the website: https://catechumensdepart.app/parish. During the pilot the big screen is free too. ## Privacy No accounts, no ads, no cookies and no trackers. The server keeps the first names typed in for one game and deletes the game about ten minutes after it ends. ## Questions people ask ### What is Catechumens, Depart!? A live trivia game for Orthodox parish groups. The questions go up on a TV or projector in the hall, and everyone answers on their own phone. It covers feasts and fasts, the saints, Scripture, the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Mysteries, hymns, the councils and Church history. ### Where does the name come from? Near the middle of the Divine Liturgy, the deacon calls the catechumens, those preparing for baptism, to depart before the Liturgy of the Faithful begins. The game takes its name from that call. ### Does everyone need the app? No. Players join in the browser on their phone by scanning the QR code or typing the four-letter code. ### What do we need for the big screen? Any TV, projector or laptop with a web browser. The host taps Big Screen and opens that link on it. ### Can we play without a TV? Yes. Every phone shows the question and the four answers, so a small group around one table can play with no big screen at all. ### How many people can play? Up to 40 phones in a room. A family can share one phone and play as a team. ### Does it work in Antiochian, Greek, Russian and other parishes? Yes. Nearly every question is true in any Orthodox church. The few about local practice are marked Antiochian, Greek or Slavic, and each parish sees only its own. The Daily Question follows the New or the Old Calendar. ### Can the host stop the clock? Yes. The host can pause at any point, for a question from the floor or a word from Father, and skip ahead when everyone is ready. ### Who writes the questions? RFT Media drafts them from Scripture, the services and the Fathers, each with a source. Orthodox clergy review every one before it counts. ### What happens to our names? The game keeps the first names people type in for that game only, and deletes the game soon after it ends. There are no accounts and no ads. ## Links - [Home](https://catechumensdepart.app/): what the game is and how it works - [Play](https://catechumensdepart.app/play): start or join a game in the browser - [Parish License](https://catechumensdepart.app/parish): the big screen, priced per parish per year - [Support](https://catechumensdepart.app/support): help and contact - [Privacy Policy](https://catechumensdepart.app/privacy) - [Terms of Use](https://catechumensdepart.app/terms) - Publisher: [RFT Media](https://rftmedia.com)