Trivia Crack
Trivia Crack is a free-to-play mobile trivia game developed by the Argentine studio Etermax and first released in October 2013 for iOS and Android platforms.[1][2] In its core Classic Mode, players duel opponents by spinning a wheel to select one of six categories—Art, Entertainment, Geography, History, Science, or Sports—and answering multiple-choice questions to earn a crown for that category; the first to collect all six crowns wins the match.[3] The game supports multiplayer challenges with friends or strangers, turn-based asynchronous play, and features like skips, power-ups, and in-app purchases for coins and spins to accelerate progress.[4] Since its launch, Trivia Crack has evolved into an interactive knowledge platform, expanding beyond mobile with versions for smartwatches, voice assistants, augmented reality, virtual reality (including Trivia Crack World on Meta Quest in 2024), and integrations with streaming and TV shows like The Floor.[5][6] Key updates include AI-powered user-generated episodes in Trivia X mode, where players create custom quizzes with images, videos, and themes; Video Trivia for multimedia questions; and Challengers for competitive leagues, all supporting 34 languages and over 50 million community-submitted questions.[5] Available in over 180 countries, it generates revenue through advertisements and optional purchases while emphasizing "Smarter Together" as a slogan for fostering curiosity and social connections.[7] The game's rapid success peaked in 2015 with 20 million daily active users and topping the U.S. iOS charts for 66 consecutive days, amassing over 300 million downloads by 2017 and maintaining a global community into 2025 with ongoing features like sports-themed events and creator programs.[5][1] Etermax, founded by Máximo Cavazzani, has grown from a small team in Buenos Aires to a prominent entertainment tech company, using Trivia Crack as its flagship title to promote diverse, educational trivia experiences.[5][8]History and Development
Origins and Launch
Trivia Crack was developed by Etermax, an Argentine studio founded in 2009 by Maximo Cavazzani in Buenos Aires.[9] The game's concept emerged as a social trivia experience designed to evoke classic board games like Trivial Pursuit, emphasizing multiplayer challenges and knowledge-sharing among friends to foster engagement in a digital format.[10] Etermax's small founding team prioritized building a robust question database, with early efforts centered on curating high-quality, diverse trivia content by an in-house Argentine content team to ensure accuracy and cultural relevance across categories.[11][12] The game launched initially under the name Preguntados in Spanish-speaking markets, targeting Latin America, before expanding globally as Trivia Crack. It debuted on Android on October 24, 2013, followed by iOS on November 6, 2013, marking Etermax's breakthrough into the competitive mobile gaming space.[13][14] Early versions were available exclusively on Android and iOS platforms, featuring core social mechanics such as multiplayer duels integrated with Facebook for challenging friends or random opponents, which drove organic virality through sharing and notifications.[2][8] Key to the launch was the emphasis on a carefully curated question bank, developed by Etermax's core developers and content specialists who focused on sourcing and verifying thousands of trivia items to support the game's addictive turn-based format without relying on user submissions at the outset.[11] This foundational work by the compact team, operating from Buenos Aires, laid the groundwork for Trivia Crack's rapid adoption in emerging markets before its international surge.[1]Updates and Milestones
Following its initial mobile launch, Trivia Crack expanded to Facebook integration in June 2014, allowing users to connect and compete socially through the platform, which contributed to its rapid early growth.[15] By early 2015, the game reached 100 million downloads worldwide, marking a significant milestone in its viral spread via word-of-mouth and social sharing.[16] In 2015, Trivia Crack launched support for the Apple Watch, enabling users to play quizzes directly from their wrists with simplified multiple-choice interfaces for on-the-go challenges.[17] The game continued to scale, surpassing 300 million downloads by 2017, with players having answered over 77 billion questions from its growing database curated by in-house teams and user submissions via the Question Factory feature.[1] By 2020, downloads exceeded 500 million.[18] Platform expansions further broadened accessibility, including a Twitch extension in 2021 that allowed streamers to host live trivia shows and interact with viewers in real-time competitions.[19] In March 2023, a web-based version launched on CrazyGames, bringing the core quiz mechanics to browser play without downloads.[20] The game's 10th anniversary in November 2023 brought a major overhaul, featuring a revamped user interface for smoother navigation, new video trivia modes where players create and respond to video-based questions, and group challenger options for multi-player battles via messaging apps.[21] This update also introduced an AI-powered quiz creator tool, enabling users to generate custom episodes and collections, alongside temporary premium subscription discounts of up to 30% to encourage ad-free play.[22] In 2024, Etermax enhanced user-generated content capabilities with the "Trivia Crack for Creators" program, providing specialized tools for influencers and players to design interactive trivia experiences and foster deeper community engagement.[23] App updates in September 2025 focused on UI refinements and new question packs across core categories like history and science, while a November release included further interface optimizations and bug fixes to improve performance on iOS and Android.[24] By 2025, the question database had expanded significantly through global curation efforts, supporting millions of unique entries that keep gameplay fresh and diverse.Gameplay
Core Mechanics
Trivia Crack is a turn-based trivia game where the primary objective is to collect all six characters—one for each category—by correctly answering multiple-choice questions in multiplayer duels or solo practice sessions. Players earn a character by filling a crown meter specific to that category through successive correct answers (six needed) and then succeeding on a decisive question to claim it. If a player already possesses a character in the spun category, correct answers contribute to duplicate crowns, which can be used for additional benefits like extending turns or accessing power-ups.[25][26][3] Gameplay proceeds asynchronously in turns, with each player having up to 36 hours to respond before forfeiting. On a player's turn, they spin a virtual wheel that lands on one of the six categories (such as Science, History, or Entertainment) or special tiles like "Crown" for instant meter progress or "Steal" to challenge an opponent's character. Landing on a category presents a trivia question with four options and a 20-second time limit; a correct answer advances the crown meter and grants another spin, while an incorrect one ends the turn. Power-ups, such as Double Chance (a second guess), Bomb (eliminates two wrong options), Skip (changes the question), or Extra Time, can be deployed during questions and are purchased using in-game coins earned from victories.[25][27][28] The game offers several modes to suit different play styles, including Classic 1v1 duels against friends (connected via social media) or random opponents, and solo practice against AI for honing skills without competitive stakes. Team play is not a core feature in the original version but can emerge through group challenges in updated multiplayer setups. Daily challenges provide bonus rewards like coins or power-ups for completing themed question sets, encouraging regular engagement. Win conditions in Classic mode require collecting all six characters first, or, if the game reaches 25 turns without a winner, the player with the most characters prevails; stealing an opponent's character is possible by correctly answering a question in that category.[25][29][28]Categories and Characters
Trivia Crack features six core categories that form the foundation of its trivia gameplay: Geography, History, Entertainment, Art, Science, and Sports.[5] Each category is represented by a unique mascot character, designed as anthropomorphic objects with distinct personalities and animations that bring the game's questions to life visually. These characters serve as collectible avatars, earned by players through targeted challenges, and reflect the thematic essence of their respective categories.[30] The characters include Tito for Geography, depicted as a friendly globe embodying exploration and natural wonders; Hector for History, portrayed as a wise book symbolizing knowledge of the past; Pop for Entertainment, a lively clapperboard or popcorn figure representing fun and pop culture; Tina for Art, a creative paintbrush highlighting artistic expression; Al for Science, a curious test tube or beaker standing for discovery and experimentation; and Bonzo for Sports, an energetic ball evoking athletic prowess.[30] Each mascot has a backstory that aligns with its category—Tito as an adventurous explorer of the world, Hector as a scholarly historian, Pop as an enthusiastic entertainer, Tina as an imaginative artist, Al as an inquisitive scientist, and Bonzo as a spirited athlete—complete with unique animations like spinning or bouncing during gameplay to engage players.[30] Questions across all categories follow a consistent four-option multiple-choice format, with difficulty levels scaling based on player progress and question pools to maintain challenge and variety.[31] For instance, Geography questions typically focus on topics like famous landmarks, capitals, and natural features, testing spatial and cultural awareness.[25] The categories are balanced through the game's wheel mechanic, where each has an equal probability of being selected on a spin, ensuring fair distribution during duels.[25] Players unlock characters by winning category-specific duels: after filling a progress crown with correct answers in a match, they select a category, answer a question from it correctly, and claim the corresponding mascot if not already owned.[26] This system encourages specialization while integrating the categories seamlessly into the wheel spins for dynamic gameplay.[26]| Category | Character | Design Representation | Thematic Backstory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geography | Tito | Globe | Adventurous explorer of nature |
| History | Hector | Book | Wise chronicler of the past |
| Entertainment | Pop | Clapperboard/Popcorn | Fun-loving pop culture fan |
| Art | Tina | Paintbrush | Creative artistic visionary |
| Science | Al | Test tube/Beaker | Curious scientific innovator |
| Sports | Bonzo | Ball | Energetic athletic competitor |