IMG_0382The spread of diseases like Ebola often grabs the media and public’s attention, but another kind of epidemic is spreading much faster.

Trivia Crack has swept across the school and nation as the most popular app due to its addictive nature.

“I ask someone to play a game, and it usually ends up in multiples games, because the game becomes more interesting and competitive as it goes on. [I keep playing] because I want to win,” sophomore Rachel Lopez said.

Trivia Crack makes it easy to find friends to play, even without ever talking to them. It utilizes Facebook Connect to allow users to start games with friends who have connected it to Facebook and allows them to invite whoever is not. Although Facebook makes it simple to find friends to play with, asking someone, even if they are not already playing, to play with you is a key factor in its spread.

Senior William Gauthier, with a 12-7 record, has asked around 15 people to start playing Trivia Crack.

“I love challenging [my friends] and seeing who knows more trivia. It’s also a fun way to earn bragging rights among my friends,” Gauthier said.

The game is centered around spinning a wheel with six categories and one crown. The categories include history, sports, arts, entertainment, geography and science. Once one lands on a category, one is asked a question from it. After getting three correct, one is able to pick a category and if one gets the question right, one receives an award for that category. If one lands on the crown, one goes straight to picking the category with the potential to win the award for the category. Which ever player gets all six categories completed first wins.

The game blends the tried-and-true trivia game archetype with a colorful, interactive touchscreen interface bringing trivia games into this millenium. The virtual spinner adds a thoughtless yet amusing aspect to the game, and the user generated question add variety in question content and difficulty. Being able to to keep playing until one makes a mistake and being able to steal opponent’s achievements through challenges adds an element of spontaneity and mobility that games like Words With Friends lack.

Word of mouth has been crucial to the spread of games such as Flappy Bird, Draw Something, and 2048. While each game was incredibly popular for a span of a few months, each has since faded quickly from the pinnacle of its’ height.

While Trivia Crack was released over a year ago, it only broke into the top 100 on the iOS app store at the beginning of November. Since then, it has rapidly climbed to the number one spot where it has rested since Dec. 2. If it fares a similar fate as the aforementioned apps, it is likely to start falling in rank in the app store around February.

Until then, Trivia Crack will remain the hot game of the moment, consuming each second users spare, as Lopez would agree with, who spends “all day” playing.

Trivia Crack is available for iOS here and for Android here.

 

By Thomas McDonald

Web Editor in Chief

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