The 5 Quiz Game Modes and Their Rules
Learn what each quiz mode does and how its rules affect the learner experience. Use this as a quick reference when choosing or configuring a mode.
To give you full control over the quiz experience, GFoundry's settings are managed in two distinct areas. Understanding the difference is essential for configuring your quizzes exactly as you intend.
Global Settings: The foundational rules and defaults that apply to all quizzes across the platform.
Specific Settings: The unique customizations and behavioral rules for a single quiz inside a course.
Where do I configure quiz modes?
Quiz modes are configured inside the quiz block of a Learn Content item. Open the quiz you want to edit, then use the quiz settings area to enable or disable modes and open the mode-specific configuration screens.
What quiz game modes are available?
The Learn module supports five quiz game modes: Classic Mode, Genius Mode, Ladder Mode, Battle Mode, and Test Mode.
Each mode changes how learners answer questions, how scoring works, and which rules can be applied. You can use the mode that best matches your learning goal, from open practice to formal assessment.
How does each mode work?
Classic Mode is the standard quiz format. Learners answer questions one by one at their own pace. You can set levels, questions per level, points for right, quick, and slow answers, and a level completion multiplier.
Genius Mode focuses on speed and accuracy. Learners must answer within a limited time frame. You can configure the maximum levels, questions per level, and points for completing a level.
Ladder Mode increases difficulty as learners progress. Correct answers help them climb, while wrong answers can make them drop down or restart. You can define questions per game, points by progress percentage, and whether questions must be answered in sequence.
Battle Mode is for head-to-head competition. Learners compete in real time, and the faster answer wins. You can define questions per game and points for winning or losing.
Test Mode turns the quiz into a formal assessment. It can use time limits, pass or fail criteria, retry rules, and optional requirements before the test starts. When Test Mode is enabled, the other game modes are disabled.
What is specific to Test Mode?
Test Mode is designed for controlled assessment rather than game-like engagement. Depending on the available settings, it can include a minimum pass percentage, question randomization, retry behavior, content-completion requirements before the test starts, and rules about whether correct answers are shown after completion.
Use Test Mode for certification, compliance, or any flow where passing criteria and auditability matter more than replayable game behavior.
What rules can I configure for a quiz?
Across the quiz settings, you can also control whether learners see explanations after wrong answers, whether all answers are explained immediately, whether questions time out, whether team rankings are shown, and whether the quiz is paid.
You can also set the quiz background images and intro image, and define the rules text shown for each mode. If you use custom quiz parameters, open the settings for Classic, Genius, Ladder, Battle, and Test directly from the quiz configuration area.
How do I configure global settings for quizzes?
This is where you establish the standard foundation for how all quizzes will behave on your platform. Any new quiz you create will inherit these rules by default.
Where to find them: Navigate to Learn > Quiz Settings from the main backoffice menu.
What you configure here:
Default Game Rules: Define the standard number of levels, questions per level, and time limit per question for each game mode.
Default In-Game Scoring: Set the standard points awarded for a correct answer, speed bonuses, and level completion multipliers.
Default Player Helps: Configure the standard availability and cost for in-game helps like "More Time" or "Remove Wrong Answer".
Global Ranking Points: Set the high-level points awarded to the main leaderboards for winning or completing each game mode.
How do I customize settings for an individual quiz?
These settings allow you to tailor the experience of a single quiz. You can find them inside the Quiz Block on the Content Management page of any "Learn Content" item.
What you configure here:
Enable Quiz: Controls whether the quiz is visible to learners. When disabled, the quiz reverts to draft mode and is hidden from users.
Active Game Modes: Choose which game modes are enabled for this quiz only. Available modes are:
Classic Mode - traditional format, answering questions one by one at the learner's own pace.
Genius Mode - challenges users to answer quickly and accurately within a limited time frame.
Ladder Mode - increasingly difficult questions; correct answers climb the ladder, wrong answers may drop the user down a rung or restart.
Battle Mode - real-time head-to-head competition, answering questions faster than opponents.
Make Genius and Ladder Modes Always Available - when enabled, users can attempt these modes without first completing Classic Mode.
Custom Appearance: Upload a unique background image to give this quiz a specific look and feel.
Quiz Behavior: Use the toggles in the General Settings area to control how this quiz operates:
Explain Wrong/All Answers Immediately: Decide if users should see explanations after each question.
Enable Question Timeout: Enforce the time limit per question.
Enable Team Rankings: Show team-based leaderboards instead of individual ones.
Paid Quiz: Mark this quiz as requiring in-game currency to access.
How do I turn a quiz into a formal assessment with Test Mode?
Test Mode transforms a quiz into a structured, formal assessment. When enabled, all other game modes (Classic, Genius, Ladder, Battle) are automatically disabled, as Test Mode provides its own controlled experience.
To configure Test Mode, click Configure Test Settings next to the Test Mode toggle. The following options are available:
Allow Retry Until Pass - when enabled, learners can retake the test as many times as needed until they achieve a passing score.
Require all content completion before test - when enabled, the learner must complete all course content before they are allowed to start the test.
Require content review on failure - works in combination with "Allow Retry Until Pass". When a learner fails, their content progress is reset and they must review all content again before retrying the test.
Hide correct answers - when enabled, correct answers are not shown to the learner after completing the test.
Randomize questions - when enabled, questions are presented in a random order each time. When disabled, questions follow the fixed sequential order.
Minimum Pass Percentage - the minimum score (0–100) required to pass the test. Default: 70.
Questions Per Test - how many questions are included in each test attempt. Default: 10.
Maximum Seconds Per Question - the time limit for answering each question. Default: 30 seconds.
Test Rules - a free-text field (up to 512 characters) where you can write custom instructions or rules to display to learners before they begin the test. Supports multiple languages (PT, EN, DE, FR, ES, IT, (...)).
Note: Test Mode is designed for compliance training, certifications, or any situation requiring a controlled, auditable assessment. Because it disables all gamified modes, it is best used on dedicated assessment content rather than on quizzes intended for engagement and practice.