Since its UK release early this year, HQ Trivia has won awards, legions of fans and, for its players, pots of pocket money.
Twice a day (at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m), players can access the game-show app on their smartphones and answer twelve general knowledge questions, each with three possible responses. If a player answers all twelve correctly, he splits a cash prize. Winnings in the UK so far have been as much as £200,000.
Each live game is hosted by a quiz master and lasts fifteen minutes. The questions get progressively challenging and, worse, they have to be answered within ten seconds.
An easy question might be something like:
In computing, the abbreviation WWW stands for which of the following?
A. Weird wired wellies
B. Wonderful Welsh weather
C. World wide web (correct)
The most difficult sort of question might be something like:
What code name did Jason Bourne use when he was originally deployed in south-east Asia?
A. Alpha One
B. Delta One (correct)
C. Bravo One
People –millennials, especially – are lapping it up. The US version attracts around two million players (known as HQties) per game, the UK version up to 200,000. Some fans even set alarms on their phones to be sure not to miss a game. Celebrities – like Sting, Robert De Niro and Ryan Seacrest – are keen to appear as guest hosts, and big brands – like Nike – want to contribute prizes.
Sharon Carpenter, who presents the UK edition of the app, explains its popularity thus: “First of all, you’ve got this live component where anything can happen. It’s the same reason people love live TV, but this you can take wherever you are.
“You never know how the game is going to end up – and because of that there is… the fear of missing out.”
Jump on this bandwagon and you can revamp your screen time, test your general knowledge and earn money all at the same time.
October 2018