Trivia Crack
Trivia Crack (original Spanish name: Preguntados) is a mobile app that allows users to compete against friends and people around the world. Modeled after popular games such as Trivial Pursuit, it became the most downloaded game in December 2014 from the Apple App Store[1]as well as most viewed advertisement on all of mobile phone services worldwide, mostly IOS. The surge in popularity has been attributed to the addition of The Question Factory which allowed users to submit their own questions. [2]The game initially launched on October 26, 2013, specifically to Latin America and was later translated into English.[3]
| Trivia Crack | |
|---|---|
 Trivia Crack logo | |
| Developer(s) | Etermax |
| Publisher(s) | Etermax |
| Director(s) | Maximo Cavazzani (CEO and Founder of Etermax) |
| Platform(s) | Advertisement iOS Android Windows Phone Facebook |
| Release | iOS October 26, 2013 Android October 26, 2013 Amazon App Store May 17, 2014 Windows Phone September 18, 2014 |
| Genre(s) | Trivia |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer Advertisement (mostly unwanted) |
The game is developed by the company Etermax, whose offices are located in Argentina[4]. It is available as an app on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Facebook, and the Amazon App Store,[5] and is available in more than 15 languages.
Gameplay
The game's questions are based on 6 knowledge categories: Entertainment, Art, Sports, History, Science and Geography.[6] The game has 6 cartoonish iconic characters, one to represent each category (for example, a globe to represent the Geography category), which have been recently named (Tito for Geography, Al for Science, Hector for History, Bonzo for Sports, Tina for Art, and Pop for Entertainment). The objective of a Classic-mode game is to answer questions correctly and in doing so, obtain all 6 characters before one's opponent does. In the Classic and Challenge (not to be confused with the Challenge during a classic game) modes, the time limit to answer the given question is 20 seconds, while it is 10 seconds in Trivia Rush.
A player may start a new game by pressing the New Game button on the app, as long as they have a "life" in the game. They can choose to play against one of their Facebook friends, a friend they have, or they can play against a random opponent. The player starts with 6 empty slots, one to store each of the characters, and an empty 3-slot "crown gauge." The player tries to populate the crown gauge by spinning a wheel and correctly answering the presented question. The player will repeat this as long as they answer questions correctly or obtains all 6 characters and wins the game. If the player answers a question incorrectly, their turn is over and control of the game is passed to their opponent. The first player cannot get more than 3 characters in the first round, so if the third character is obtained in the first player's first turn the turn ends. The second player can get all 6 characters in the first round.
It is also possible to play against any other user of Trivia Crack, even if you or they are not on Facebook, by using the search function and entering a user name. The player will be given a list of user names that are a full or partial match that updates as they type.
The wheel consists of 7 slots: 6 category slots (one for each knowledge category), and a 7th special "crown" slot. The player spins the wheel and is then presented with a 4-choice question that is based on the category the wheel lands on. Each time the player answers a question correctly, one slot in the crown gauge is filled. The player has a chance to obtain a character anytime the 3-slot crown gauge is filled by either landing on categories and answering questions correctly 3 times, or by landing on the "crown" slot, which automatically fills the crown gauge and immediately grants the opportunity to obtain a character.
Each time the player gains the opportunity to obtain a character, they are asked which way they wish to try for it: the "crown" method or the "challenge" method. If the player chooses the crown method, they are asked to choose which category-based character to try for from a list of characters they have not yet obtained. The player will be presented with a question from the category associated with the character. If the question is answered correctly, the player wins that character and either continues trying for the remaining unattained characters, or wins the game after obtaining all 6 characters. The player can also choose the "challenge" method, which gives them an opportunity to steal a character from his opponent, but in doing so must bet one of their own characters. Challenge mode can only be done if both players have at least one character. In challenge mode, the player is given a series of 6 questions in a row to answer (correctly or incorrectly), then their opponent is given the same questions. If the challenger answers more questions correctly, they are able to steal a character from their opponent. If the challenger loses the challenge, they also lose the character they bet. If there is a tie, the defending player receives an extra question, in which the winner of the challenge is dependent on whether the defender answers the question correctly.
A game is over after either one of the players obtains all 6 characters, making them the winner, somebody has surrendered or resigned, or they have played a total of 25 rounds. A round is completed each time both players play their turns until they answer a question incorrectly. If 25 rounds are played and neither player has obtained all 6 characters, the player with the most characters will be the winner. If both players have the same number of characters, a 6-question challenge will be presented to each player, and the winner will be the one that answers the most questions. If both players tie the challenge, the player that initially started the game will be the winner.[7]
It is possible for a given player to have multiple games in progress at a time. The app's main screen will show the player which games are currently waiting for them to play their turn, which games are waiting for the other player to play their turn, finished games that the player won or lost, games awaiting a Facebook friend's approval, or games a Facebook friend started that are awaiting the player's approval. Each game will list the score, that is, how many characters the player has and how many their opponent has.
When starting a game against a Facebook friend, the starting player will play their turns until they answer a question incorrectly, and the game will then be in a pending-approval status. Their Facebook-friend opponent can choose to accept or reject the game, and if they accept, game play continues normally until one of players obtains 6 characters or 25 rounds are completed. If a player chooses to start a game against a random opponent, the player will play their turn until they answer incorrectly, then will be randomly matched up with an opponent who has recently played his/her turns. If the starting player gets three characters without missing a question, the game will inform the player that they cannot get more than three characters before the opponent has a chance to play.
When a game's turn is passed to a player (from the opponent answering incorrectly), the game will wait up to 24 hours for that player to play their turn. If 24 hours pass and the player has not played his/her turns, the game will force the player to forfeit.
A challenge mode is also available. The player names the challenge and then invites friends to play. This will cost the player who started the game a life and all friends who accept the challenges one too. Each player is given the same 12 questions, 2 from each category. The winner is the player who gets the most questions right in the quickest time. The winner gets a set number of coins based on how many players have accepted the challenge.
Free spins
A newly created player starts with 3 "free spins." If a player spins the wheel and lands on a category they consider difficult, the player may use one of their free spins to spin the wheel again in the hopes of landing on a different category. If a player runs out of free spins, they can request more from their Facebook friends. Free spins are no longer purchaseable.
Power-ups and coins
The game makes three power-ups available; three in the standard game and two in "challenge mode," which players can use to help answer a question. Using a power-up costs coins, and each power-up costs a different amount. Coins can be obtained by either the player purchasing them, winning them in challenges/standard games, obtaining them by reaching certain game milestones, or by using a prize card from a gem machine.
(1.) Bomb: Using this power-up "blows away" (discards) two randomly selected wrong answers, narrowing the player's choices down to the correct answer and a remaining wrong answer. This power-up uses 480 coins.
(2.) Double Chance: If this power-up is used before guessing an answer, the player gets a second chance to pick the correct answer should they answer incorrectly the first time. This power-up uses 240 coins.
(3.) Skip: This allows the player to skip over a question to a new one in the same category. This power up uses 400 coins.
In all cases, only one power-up can be used. Once a power-up is used, all power-ups are disabled until the player answers. If the player answers correctly, power-ups will be available for use for the next question. If the player answers incorrectly, power-ups will also be available in the next question, however whether or not the question is answered correctly, the cost and choice to use the power-up is final.
Lives
"Lives" serve as a mechanism to throttle how often new games can be started, and also provide an in-app revenue opportunity for the developer. Each time a player starts a game by pressing the New Game button, or accepts a Facebook friend's request to play against them, they are charged a Life. A player can have as many lives as they wish, and as they spend lives, the game will automatically replenish one life every hour, provided they are below 5 lives, until the player returns to a full charge of 5 lives. A heart icon on the app's main screen shows how many lives the player currently has, and if they have less than 5, a timer will also display that ticks down in real time to show how long until the next replenishment. If the player runs out of lives, they must wait for replenishment before they can start any new games or approve a new game started against them by a Facebook friend. A player who does not want to wait can either request lives from their Facebook friends, or can buy lives through an in-app purchase.
When the app is updated, players are offered the opportunity to buy unlimited lives.
Running out of lives does not affect games that are already in progress, and these games can continue to be played in the meantime when it becomes the player's turn.
A newly updated Trivia Crack allows players to replenish one life by watching a video. Watching ads are one of the ways this free mobile app makes money.
Freebies
A game update introduced freebies, where the player can collect free coins, lives, and gems. Initially, the player starts with 2 cards, which allows the player to collect 1 life and a coin. The game will then undergo a tutorial (unless skipped by the user) to claim another card for free. Answering 50 questions correctly (they do not have to be consecutive) awards the player with a gem, which they can spend to buy new cards. Cards are available in four rarities, Common, Aqua, Gold, and Black, and is representative of how great the card is. Three machines are available, using 1 Gem, 3 Gems, and 5 Gems per card. Machines do not have an unlimited number of cards; a number above the 'Push' button tells the user how many cards are remaining in the machine, and tapping the question mark beside the machine name will inform the user of how many of each rarity of card remains in the machine. Seasonal machines occasionally appear next to the three machines, and can be purchased at 1 or 2 Gems for the first card per day, then 5 Gems. In the mobile versions, a VIP machine is available, and only contains cards that the player has not yet acquired from seasonal machines, but the number of gems needed to obtain one of these cards does not stay the same, and increases in number as fewer cards remain in it. Duplicate cards can also be traded in with five duplicates giving a player per one gem in return for the exchange, with three trade-ins allowed every four hours. Once the player has collected the 5 obtainable cards in a set, the sixth card, a 'Prize Card', is unlocked, and is usually better than all of the other cards in the set. If the player has enough Gems, they can also opt to 'Push x9', to get nine cards from that machine. During major holiday and sporting events, Trivia Crack offers special machines with special cards. These cards will give the players who have received all the other cards new chances for free prizes. Such holiday and sporting machines are New Years, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas machines. Usually, Trivia Crack offers these machines to coincide with special Latin American themed or other world holidays such as Día de muertos and Chinese New Year. The Sporting machines involve both Winter and Summer Olympics and Soccer Tournaments.
Trivia Rush
A new game update introduced Trivia Rush, in which two players compete head-to-head in 5 questions for coins. A player chooses from 4 entry fees to compete with another player, then a computer-controlled wheel will choose a category for a question. The two players then compete to answer the questions - the winner is determined by the most questions correct out of 5, and wins slightly less than double the entry fee. In case of a tie, half of the winning prize is refunded, making Trivia Rush unprofitable or very slightly profitable in the long run.
References
- "'Trivia Crack' the top download". Edmonton Sun. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- "How A Trivia App Broke The Record For The Longest Streak At The Top Of The App Store". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
- Heim, Anna. "How Latin American mobile game Trivia Crack conquered the US market". The Next Web. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- https://etermax.com/en/about/
- "TriviaCrack.com website". Etermax.
- Newcomb, Alyssa (31 December 2014). "Trivia Crack: Inside the Free Game Topping App Store Charts". ABC News. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- "Rules". Etermax.