It’s 1.30am, and every social media app has been minimised. On the phone screen is HQ Trivia, the app that’s attracting tens of thousands of people. It’s an app that’s redefining TV game show formats. Excited? Read on.
First things first, what’s HQ Trivia?
HQ is a live mobile trivia game that has taken over the Internet in the last few months. The idea is simple. Players are required to log in at a certain time every day and they have 10 seconds to answer each multiple-choice trivia question. It’s not very different from, say, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? or Jeopardy!. Answer 12 consecutive questions correctly and win a cash prize, which is usually between $1,500 and $2,000. At times, it goes up to $10,000 per game. Get a single question wrong, and out you go.
Whoa, that’s easy!
Nope. The questions get increasingly difficult with each round. But what an adrenaline rush for 15 minutes! Usually half a million users join in and the cash is divided and distributed through PayPal.
What are some of the questions?
The early questions are relatively easy: What was the most downloaded iPhone app of 2016? It soon gets tough: What is the more common plural form for octopus? And also bizarre: How many times does the word ‘sex’ appear in the US Constitution?
Who’s the host?
Though the game has a few hosts, it’s mostly done by the wisecracking Scott Rogowsky, who many call Quiz Daddy. Scott, who has become a social media superstar, calls his players HQties (“H-cuties”).
“I used to watch Jeopardy! and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. I don’t play any games on my phone. I don’t really watch any TV! I would love to watch all these Netflix shows people talk about but I don’t have time for any of that, it’s horrible,” Scott has told W magazine.
Who’s the founder?
Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll. Both previously founded the popular six-second video app Vine, which Twitter bought in 2012 and shuttered in 2017. According to The New York Times, HQ emerged from the ashes of a less popular live-streaming video app which they had created — Hype, which sought to let users add pictures and music to broadcasts. HQ is in the mould of Jeopardy! and it’s also influenced by Twitch, the video streaming site for gamers that Amazon owns.
“There’s a point-of-view live, where you’re experiencing something through someone else’s phone, and then there’s this idea of interactive video, where the audience is actually a key component of driving the content. I became really interested in the latter and saw there was a real absence in the market of that sort of experience,” Colin has told NYT.
Where is the money coming from?
The product from New York has received funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners (Snapchat’s first investor). But the app’s long-term business plan is still met with questions.
What is the game’s biggest achievement?
Netflix has made us forget all about “TV appointments” or sitting before the TV at a certain time to watch a certain show. In an age when you can watch anything anytime, HQ works within time frames.
Any clues on how to win money?
Host Scott has told AdAge that there is no fun in googling. “Just read Wikipedia front to back. Make educated guesses, use context clues,” he said. t2 suggestion? Play in a group because you will have no time to google the questions.
Right, so what does HQ stand for?
The company remains tight-lipped about it. But that hasn’t stopped fans from making guesses: Hard Questions? Head Quotient?
Does HQ Trivia have competition?
The Q, another trivia game. But it’s not as popular as HQ Trivia. There is desi competition in the form of ShowTime, which you can check out at 10pm every day.
I am hooked to HQ Trivia because….
Tell t2@abp.in
Picture: @AkilahObviously
