The new live trivia application takes over the world

If you are free at noon or at 6 p.m. PST, and have some time on your hands and want to occupy your mind, here’s an idea for you! What about playing HQ Trivia? The game is as simple as any other application on your phone.

The app is called, HQ Trivia. The game is the newest live trivia app from the created by Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll, the creator of Vine. The app was introduced to the world in August 2017 on iOS and for Android in January 2018. Players that play are labeled as “HQ-ties.”

The game is centered around 12 questions over the course of 15 minutes in which you must answer correctly in order to get a share of the cash prize.

The game is broadcasted live twice a day at noon and 6 p.m. PST and has reached an audience of over 1.5 million players.

The questions range from easy to hard, and become more challenging as the game progresses. HQ is typically general trivia, but ranges from different subjects like entertainment, world news, sports, history, geography, and much more.

The makers of HQ choose a theme for the day on special holiday occasions. For example, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, players were prompted with many questions centered around the great life and accomplishments of Dr. King. Some of these questions included themes from his famous I Have A Dream Speech and awards for all his activism.

One hack that many players are unaware of is the ability to give friends your referral code. When friends play HQ Trivia for the first time using your referral code, HQ banks you an “Extra Life” to your account that you can use when you get an answer wrong. These extra lives can only be used once per game and ultimately give you a better chance to make it to question twelve, one step closer to the cash prize.

An easier question may be, an athlete that rides a racehorse is called what? Jockey, Goalie, or Bojack? The answer would be, jockey.

A more challenging questions could be, in what country was Trivial Pursuit created? Canada, Japan, or USA? The answer would be, Canada.

For each game, the cash prize is $2500, and must be split amongst all the winners at the end of the game. Oftentimes on Sunday evenings, there is only one game per day at 6 p.m. PST which has a cash prize of up to $20,000. The catch is that you must answer 16 questions correctly in order to have a piece of the cash prize.

HQ is getting more and more popular because unlike other applications, there is absolutely no advertisements. HQ is not dependent of money from advertisers but is invested from deep-pocketed investors from The Silicon Valley. Investors hope that the game will continue to increase in popularity and eventually hopes that companies will pay to be apart of it.

According to Recode, an independent tech news company, as of December 8, 2017, HQ Trivia has raised at least $8 million, and was asking venture capitalists to value it at between $80 million to $100 million.

HQ Trivia typically ranks in 800,000 people per game which makes the server lag or fidget. On Jan. 25 at approximately 12:06 p.m. PST. the game experienced technical difficulties resulting in players leaving the game. Host, Scott Rogowsky asked players to stay present for the reboot.

Scott Rogowsky first got his start by hosting a comedy panel show with his father Marty, called Running late with Scott Rogowsky. “I was born in Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, raised in Harrison, New York, about 25 miles north in Westchester County,” Rogowsky told HuffPost.

If you’ve ever played HQ Trivia, you aware that Rogowsky has a way with his words and often comes up with new phrases in hopes of making his audience laugh.

He gave himself the nickname of “Quiz Daddy” and often gives viewers a chuckle with his obscene use of puns.

The game has also caught a lot of attention by being featured in various segments on television shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live, who at once hosted the live game show. Ellen Degeneres also featured a viral winner on her daytime show.

Jazmin Macias, sociology major at Chabot College, recounts her first time playing the game and making it to question five. “To my amazement as I got through the first four questions, I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I hope to go further next time,” she told The Pioneer.

Whether you love the app idea or hate, there is no doubt that the application is a fresh new spin on trivia and cash prizes.

HQ Trivia claims that it pays it players by depositing money into a PayPal account. Before January 29, it was required that you have a minimum of $20 in winnings in order to actually see the money in your account.

Now, that the $20 minimum has been dropped, HQ Trivia hopes players will feel more encouraged to participate in the game and ultimately win a piece of the cash prize.