HQ Trivia: The game that's now a community-based obsession with hot hosts

HQ Trivia, app, quiz, family

HQ Trivia the interactive game that all the cool kids are playing

HQ Trivia is the next big thing in interactive entertainment. All you need to do is download this awesome app and you are part of something fun and informative.

For 15 minutes, twice per day during the week at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET and once a day per weekend 9 p.m. ET businesses take a break, bars change topics from general pickup lines to general information, families come together and trivia fans get their competitive juices flowing. Why? To play an addictive game of tough, yet addictive trivia with fun hosts and an interactive platform that makes it seem like you are playing a fun game with people from all over the world.

"I was out at a bar with friends and we meant to stay for happy hour, next thing we know its 9 p.m. and were all playing HQ. A group of cute guys see us and, bam, it was a conversation starter and we met new people! It’s as if it’s a new cyber language that brings people together," said Mallory Janszen, PR Specialist.

You can feel the community spirit when you play this game, and it even can bring families closer together.

"HQ has been a really fun way to connect with my family. My dad's a trivia nerd, so I told him about it and now he and my mom now play just about every day. I only know this because every night around 9:30 p.m., my dad texts me to brag about his score. I think the most he's gotten is 8/12, which is still much better than my 4/12. We've gotten in long text chains about which questions we've gotten wrong or right," said writer/satirist Whitney Meers.

On January 21, the Sunday game for a whopping $15,000 had 1.6 million players for the pot.

While each game is typically around 15 minutes long with 12 questions, this game had three extra questions.  Players only have 10 seconds to tap an answer.  You must get each question correct in order to stay in the game.  The questions start out on the easy side, but usually, by question four, they start getting harder. With these “Savage Questions” the numbers of active players drastically go down.  Anyone who answers all 12 questions correctly wins the pot.  If there is more than one winner, the pot is split.  If ever a pot is not won, it will carry over to the next game.

Something cool about the game is that players can get another life by inviting friends to the next game, but only one life can be used per game and the extra life is not eligible for the last question.

Serious players follow the leaderboard in the HQ Trivia app to see who’s won what.

HQ Trivia (Unreleased)- screenshot

Derek Hales,  Founder and Editor-in-Chief of ModernCastle.com and avid gamer, has this to say about the popularity of HQ Trivia:

"I think it's popular because it's incredibly easy to play, takes almost no time, and it's social. It's sort of like being on a mini-game show, but all your friends and family are there also. You get to talk to your friends about how you almost won $2K last night, or brag about high scores, or mock the guy three cubes down because he didn't realize "lug nut" was not an actual nut. It's great!"

The HQ Trivia app was launched in August of 2017 by Rus Yusupov, CEO and co-founder and Colin Kroll, co-founder, are known for having founded Vine and Hype.

The concept of the game is simple.  According to the HQ Trivia site: “HQ Trivia is a daily, appointment-based trivia game that broadcasts live to your phone. The app combines the best elements of live-streaming video, gaming, and Hollywood production to create a modern trivia experience, with a distinct design and retro game show twist.”

The hosts add extra personality and fun.  Main host, Scott Rogowsky has developed quite a following and he is joined by Casey Jost, Sarah Pribis and Sharon Carpenter.  There is also a rotating cast of surprise guest hosts that has included Jimmy Kimmel and Ryan Seacrest so far.  Late night host Jimmy Fallon is also a fan of HQ Trivia.

HQ Trivia:  more than a game, it is an interactive experience

The bearded hottie with eyebrows that have their own fan base, Scott Rogowsky is a graduate from Johns Hopkins and has been on the comedy circuit for a while now and was previously known for his “Fake Book Covers on the Subway" videos and his talk show Running Late with Scott Rogowsky as reported by Westchester Magazine.

His wit and charm make him so fun to watch, but he isn’t beyond throwing a little shade.  In fact, he was less-than-charitable to the Patriots, specifically, Pretty Boy, err, Tom Brady and Twitter lit up with complaints, as well as praise.

Something else that makes it special is that it forces people to absolutely be in the moment. This is live and timed, so you can’t go back.  If you miss the game, then you have sadly missed it and you're left to ruminate over the loss all day.

Also, the questions are all original.  They are created in-house by a team of writers and fact checkers, but players are also invited to submit questions through the app.

The chat feature makes HQ Trivia extra special.  It is fun to read the comments and sometimes extreme non-sequiturs from players and watchers.

HQ Trivia (Unreleased)- screenshot

Even when eliminated, it is fun to stay in the game and see how many questions you would have gotten correct, if only you made just one alternate choice.

Now, one thing that can be frustrating is that HQ Trivia is not without its glitches.  Sometimes there is buffering and sometimes the app doesn’t take your answer in the right amount of time even though you are tapping it until your fingers bleed.

There also is another controversial thing, winners must earn at least $20 before they are allowed to cash out.  What makes that even more challenging is that winners must get to the at-least $20 mark within 90 days of winning the first time, according to Vox.com.

This doesn’t seem to faze most players.  In fact, Lauren May who’s recorded win went viral and landed her on Ellen.

While this catch may frustrate some players, it inspires others to play more and try to win more often. Even losing this game can be an experience.

Hales added that the popularity of the game is the combination of competition and money, "The competition. And the chance to win real money. It turns what would just be a casual and fun game into a hyper-competitive and high stakes game. Everything is more intense. That intensity and pressure really adds to the game's flavor."

On Jan. 28, Scott Rogowsky allegedly revealed the mystery of what HQ stands for:  Happy Quinceañera, but that information changes week to week, so the mystery still stands.

HQ Trivia is one of the most social and fun things happening this moment. Check it out in the App Store or on Google Play.

 

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