Cracked: Popular app puts a social spin on trivia
Students at Utah State University are lighting up lecture halls with colorful trivia wheels, and it’s leaving some students’ heads spinning.
Trivia Crack is quickly gaining popularity and is the No. 1 top-selling app (both in the paid and free charts), according to the Top Charts feature in the App Store.
“I think it’s so popular because everyone wants to be smarter than everyone else,” said Callie Rencher, a freshman majoring in child development. “That’s why me and my friends play.”
The interactive app has colorful graphics and music, not to mention social networking capabilities, which allow players to virtually connect with and challenge friends.
“What I like about the game is it is easy to play and anyone can do it,” said Joseph Day, a junior majoring in biology. “I love that it is at my fingertips and easily accessible to play, and it doesn’t take up that much time to play it.”
Day also said the game has educational value.
“I’ve learned a lot from it,” he said.
The game itself was modeled after the board game Trivial Pursuit, according to Tech Times.
“It is a game that you play on your phone where you challenge your friends or anyone around the world to a match,” Day said. “In the match, you each take turns answering questions, and if you get questions right, you get crowns, and if you get a question wrong, then it is your opponent’s turn. The game continues until a player has 6 crowns and they win.”
After playing the game for about two weeks, Day said the game can interfere with studying time if misused.
“I think Trivia Crack could very easily distract from time to study or from paying attention in class, but I don’t think it takes up that much time in my day or that it will have a negative impact on my grades,” he said.
However, he did admit to having wasted study time playing the game.
“And I have seen people play it in classes, so that could impact grades,” Day said.
The app features trivia questions that are categorized under six different subjects: entertainment, arts, science, geography, sports and history. The trivia questions are written by other gamers, which can sometimes pose a problem for players.
“Since the players make the questions there are a lot of wrong answers,” Rencher said. “Some of the questions I have gotten have had two right answers, and that is what I do not like about it.”
For Kassidy Price, a freshman majoring in anthropology, the amateur questions can be tedious.
“I strongly dislike the fact that the questions are from other players,” Price said. “Frankly, people are somewhat stupid. I’ll occasionally get an intelligent piece of trivia, but there are a plethora of incorrect and boring questions. I haven’t really learned anything from the game, but I am a pedantic know-it-all.”
Price began playing Trivia Crack after being influenced by her brother and some other friends. For her, it is a good way to stay connected.
“Overall, I can’t stand the game, but I love it,” she said. “It’s a way to stay occupied in the moments between moments and virtually connect to friends.”
As far as the app’s longevity is concerned, some players say that Trivia Crack will end as quickly as it began gaining popularity.
“Just like every new popular game, it will soon die out,” Rencher said. “Sooner or later people will forget they have it or they will have to clear their phones for more space for music or a different new popular game.”
Day believes that while the game will eventually slow, it won’t completely spin out.
“I don’t think it will die out completely, but I do think it will die down some,” he said. “When people get sick of it or download the next best game, Trivia Crack will be forgotten. But because they are always writing new questions and because it is a friend-against-friend game, I think it could stay very popular for a while.”
— alyssa.hawkins@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @_alyssahawkins