Make The Puns Stop!
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I know it has been around for a good bit of time, but like with most things I took my time deciding to give it a chance. I have finally made an attempt at HQ Trivia however, and have a short little review and how to for the game. This will be a text review and after that I’ll have a recording of me playing as an example of how the game works.
One disclaimer before I get too into the review. I’m not good with my phone, I hardly use it for anything, so this won’t be the most technical review.
What Is It?
In case you are unaware I’ll go into a little bit of a description of the game.
Essentially it is a live game show with an actual host and everything. The host reads out 12 questions which increase in difficulty as you progress. You must answer a question correctly within a 10 second time limit to advance to the next question. If you answer all questions correctly then you split the prize money with all the other people playing. This could be 3, 12, or 100 dollars depending on how many people make it all the way to the end. There are two daily games at 3 and 9 PM eastern time with a normal prize of 5,000 dollars.
Sounds pretty simple, host reads questions, you pick the answer, get 12 right and win cash. Of course it isn’t that easy, there is a bit of a trick to getting use to playing the game, and of course these issues are related to accessibility.
Getting The Game
This is quite simple. You just need to search the app store for HQ Trivia then download and install it. It will ask you for your apple ID password, or Itunes or some such information. After that you will have to verify you are real by entering your phone number and going through a pin confirmation process. After that you are all set and ready to play when the next game starts.
Accessibility Of The Game
The game was not made for blind folks to play, but it is perfectly playable. You just need to know a couple things to get started.
- The announcer reads the questions in the order of the buttons on the screen.
- The buttons are not well labeled, they read as possible text.
- There is a tone/chime when the host starts reading. This is when the buttons appear on the screen.
- You want to be on page one not page two which has the chat.
- You have to be quick in answers as the 10 second limit is the most difficult part about it.
Some more info on these points:
When you first enter into the game you need to do a three finger swipe to the right. This will put you on page one which does not have the chat. If you are on the page with chat it makes voice over go a bit wacky. Just stay on page one and wait for the game to start.
The second the host/announcer starts reading you will hear the chime thing, this is when your 10 second time limit has started. This can make everything a bit more difficult for us blind folks. We have to both listen to the question while using voice over to select the right answer. The best way to do this is to wait for the host to almost be done reading the question then tap in the middle of the screen. Then while listening to them swipe to the left a couple times to get to the top of the screen. Usually by this point they are done reading and you just need to swipe right to the proper button and double tap on it.
For example if the host reads out. “Q1,” chime, “What sound does a cat make. Bark, quack, or meow.” I would tap in the middle right when they say “a cat make”, then swipe left a couple times while they are reading the rest of the question and the answers. After that just swipe right to the third button and double tap on it.
It might sound like a bit of a pain at first, but once you get use to it there really isn’t any difficulty at all. The only problem someone might have at first is making sure they get the answer chosen within the 10 second limit. Even this gets easy after you play a couple times and have a better sense of how much time you have. The first couple times I played I was ready to chuck my phone across the room. I couldn’t get the questions answered in time. I then told Hannibal he should try it and he seemed to have a much easier time. He told me about the swiping left at the start and after that it was allot easier. Refer to the disclaimer at the top of the post.
One thing I found that makes the game a lot easier is using headphones when playing. This is because I’m trying to listen to both voice over and the host read at the same time. The first couple times I played it was just using the speaker built into my phone. This was much more difficult. I had a hard time hearing both VO and the question. Once I plugged my phone into my Turtle Beach headset it was much easier.
One last tip:
If you have a little bit of usable vision look at your phone screen when a question is coming. The screen turns white when the question is being read. This is when the buttons pop up on the screen and when you can start the swiping left then right process.
Audio Of Me Playing The Game
In this example I do exactly what I shouldn’t be doing in a demo and clicking on the wrong answer. After messing up I still keep going so I can explain more how to navigate after a question is asked.
Conclusion
It is a trivia game so I can’t say too much about it. The questions are good and always interesting. They aren’t too easy and a good challenge. Overall this really is a fun game even if I leave the game feeling like quite an idiot. I don’t have a number to put on this game as far as a review goes, but you should for sure check it out. There isn’t any reason not to. If you like trivia then you’ll really like the game and who knows, you might even win some cash in the process.
If you do end up playing make sure to say
Hannibal-93
referred you. This will give him and maybe you an extra life. This means you can get a question wrong and still continue in the game.