Trivial Provides The Perfect Blend Of Competition And Social Interaction
Trivial ($2.99) by MobileFWD takes challenging quiz-bowl questions and pits you against the world in asynchronous online competitions.
At its core, Trivi.al is a simple trivia game. You are asked questions and given four answer choices along with a short amount of time to pick the correct answer. Answering questions correctly earns you points, but answering incorrectly loses you points.
While there isn’t anything too groundbreaking going on with the trivia system, the way that the multiplayer is implemented is very clever. Trivi.al is based entirely around multiplayer. You can challenge a random foe from anywhere in the world, or you can choose to compete with your friends, co-workers, or family.
There are really two ways to use the multiplayer; with and without Facebook. Without Facebook you can only challenge a random foe or enter a specific username. However, if you sign in with Facebook, you can sort out family, co-workers, and random people into separate pages on the main menu. This simple organization makes the experience a lot more personalized and brings you closer to the competition.
In terms of actual gameplay, a game is composed of three rounds; General, Lightning, and Bonus. You compete with your opponent to see who can earn the highest score. To gain an advantage over your opponent, you have the option of picking up to two power-ups to use during a round.
Four power-ups are available; Crain Drain, 50/50, SloMo, and FreePass. CrainDrain shortens your opponents time by five seconds, 50/50 removes two incorrect answer choices from the current question, SloMo adds 10 seconds to your time, and FreePass allows you to skip a question without losing points.
You may have noticed that two versions of the game are available; a free version, and a premium version. The difference between the two is similar to that of Draw Something. The free version of Trivi.al is supported by ads, and you gain “common cents” (a form of in-game currency) at a slower rate. The premium version doesn’t have ads, and you earn common cents twice as fast as you would in the free version.
Now don’t be driven away by the thought of in-game currency and a freemium model. The common cents are simply for buying power-ups and playing games, and they are earned automatically every 20 minutes. This allows casual players to enjoy the game without throwing down any money, while at the same time allowing trivia junkies to play all the games they want by throwing down some extra money.
Trivi.al also features an IQ system that acts like a leveling system in an RPG. Basically, the better you play, and the more you play, the higher your IQ becomes. This provides some incentive to play harder.
Trivi.al is one of the more enjoyable trivia games that I have played. The visual appeal and clean menu layout makes the game inviting to gamers of all types, and the competition factor will get you hooked after a few rounds. With both a free and paid version, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t hop in to the world of Trivi.al right now.
