Netflix has released a number of interactive shows over the years, but few have made much of an impact. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch generated some interest, but mostly because it was Netflix’s first attempt at interactive content. Now, Netflix is trying again with Trivia Quest — an interactive game show based on the popular mobile game Trivia Crack.
The first episode of Trivia Quest hit the streaming service on Friday. A new episode will arrive every day this month, with 30 planned in all. You can play from virtually any device, including smart TVs, phones, tablets, computers, and game consoles.
How to play Trivia Quest on Netflix
If you have played Trivia Crack before, you know what to expect. You have a limited amount of time to answer a series of questions covering a range of topics. After starting an episode, you will be presented with 12 standard questions. For every correct answer, you’ll get a few coins. At the end of the episode, if you answered enough of the questions correctly, you’ll exchange those coins for a key to rescue a kidnapped friend.
Andy Weil, Netflix’s VP of Comedy Series and Interactive Programming, explained how Trivia Quest works in a blog post earlier this year:
Adapting Trivia Crack’s acclaimed game play, each episode features 24 questions (12 standard and 12 hard) across categories including science, history, entertainment, sports, art and geography. Each question is a multiple-choice play, with four potential answers to choose from. Like our interactive specials, Trivia Quest also has a narrative twist, taking players on a mission to help our hero, Willy, rescue the animated citizens of Trivia Land from the Evil Rocky, who’s bent on hoarding all the knowledge in the world. So it’s up to you, the player, to select the right answers and save the day.
Is the interactive game show any fun?
Having played the first episode, I can confidently say that Trivia Quest… exists. The standard questions are almost insultingly easy, while the hard questions were only marginally harder. Plus, virtually all of the questions, regardless of category, revolve around movies.
That said, it wasn’t a terrible way to waste ten minutes over lunch. Much like Wordle, I could see this being way more entertaining if you turned it into a competition with friends. Better yet, if you have kids, you could turn this into a fun after-dinner ritual. The narrative hook is tenuous, but it does give you and whoever you’re playing with something to work toward. You can also replay the quiz as many times as you like.
New episodes of Trivia Quest will be available on Netflix every day in April. You can play any of them at any time after they start streaming, so you don’t have to worry about missing a day or two along the way. I do wish that Netflix has included some way to share your score, but perhaps there will be another season down the line.
More Netflix coverage: For more Netflix news, check out our coverage of the latest new Netflix movies and series to watch.
