Trivia Crack - Etermax

This review of Trivia Crack was completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 13 June 2015.

About the app

This section contains details about the app provided by an ACCM Reviewer.

ACCM review

This review of Trivia Crack contains the following information:

• The level to which the game was reviewed
• App description
• Reviewers comments
• In App purchasing
• Online information
• Gambling
• Advertising and product placement
• Gender stereotypes and sexual references
• Coarse language
• Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents
• Other

The level to which the game was reviewed

This app was reviewed for approximately 1 hour.

App description

Trivia Crack is a trivia-based app. The objective of the game is to answer trivia questions from a range of different categories, while competing against strangers or friends. The skills required include motor skills to use the app, as well as general knowledge and speed of thinking/processing. 

Reviewers comments

When the app is installed and opened, players are asked if they would like to sign in via Facebook or an email account – one of these options must be selected in order to progress to the gameplay. Players are then asked to ‘confirm their country’ in order to receive questions from their region. The game then displays several animated characters, one of which is an armour-wearing yellow creature who states ‘Tap here! We’ll find you an opponent of your level’. After this players are then taken to a wheel which they may tap to spin, and play through 25 rounds of trivia. This selects a particular category from which trivia questions are chosen (Art, Geography, Science, History, Sports, and Entertainment). Players can opt to spin the wheel again if they do not like the category (although they have a limited number of re-spins available) or click Play to answer a question.

The game presents questions in a large white text box, displaying questions such as ‘What famous poet locked herself in her room for the majority of her life’, with multiple-choice answers. There is a timer at the top of the screen which counts down – players must select their answer within the time frame given or fail the question. If a player gets the answer wrong, a pop-up screen appears which informs them that they lose their turn and must wait for their opponent to answer. After submitting their answer, players are informed immediately as to whether their answer was correct or incorrect. They are also asked to rate the question as either ‘Fun’ or ‘Boring’.

During a competition with another individual, players are able to view statistics on how both they and their opponents have done within each of the categories. Players can choose a game mode of Classic (playing against one other individual) or Challenge (where they play against several opponents at the same time) and can also select whether their opponent is chosen at random or from their friends list.

The app further contains an achievements section which is accessible by players – this lists achievements players may strive to accomplish, such as ‘Win 5 games’, ‘Win 500 games’. ‘Win 25 consecutive games’, etc. There is also a segment called the Questions Factory, where players can rate questions offered by other players, suggest their own questions, translate questions into their own languages, etc.

In App purchasing

The app contains an in-app purchases store where players can use real-life currency to buy in-game items. Players are able to purchase 5 extra lives for $4.99, or ‘Endless lives’ for $29.99. Players are also able to buy in-game coins in packages of 10 coins for $0.99, 55 coins for $4.99, 120 coins for $9.99, 320 coins for $24.99, and 1300 coins for $99.99. In addition to this, players can also purchase more spins – these can be bought in packages of 3 spins for $0.99, 18 spins for $4.99, or 100 spins for $24.99.

Online information

Connecting to a Facebook account via the app offers players an in-game financial reward of 5 coins. If players sign in via Facebook, their full name (and the full name of their opponents) may be visible, along with their profile picture. The game itself also contains an online chat feature which allows players to have an unmoderated discussion. Additionally, the chat function can be opened separately to a tournament and used to find other users – the app automatically presents the Facebook friends of a player who use the app, but players also have the option of typing in a username and searching themselves.

Gambling

No gambling content was found during this review.

Advertising and product placement

The main page of the app contains considerable advertisement features. There are banner advertisements along the bottom of the screen advertising things such as Quitline for quitting smoking, as well as Gym and Fitness websites. The app home page also contains a section titled ‘More free games’ which houses small icons that link to the play store and offers players the chance to install and browse other games by the same creators. Additionally, the app contains a moving banner across the centre of the screen which promotes liking the app’s Facebook page, as well as downloading other apps that might be of interest (e.g. puzzle-based apps such as Skydoms’).

Gender stereotypes and sexual references

N/A.

Coarse language

N/A.

Game playing behaviour which may be of concern to some parents

The manner in which an individual’s full name appears after signing in via Facebook may pose some concerns regarding privacy. Also, the interactive online chat feature may be of concern for younger players, due to its unmoderated nature.

Other

N/A.

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