QuizUp is a challenge-style game that was released last September and has created a lot of buzz around its social model. The massive take-up it achieved demonstrated that there was a market for competitive, real-time quiz apps. A few new apps have tried to replicate this, but not many in vertical subjects. SportsQuest, by Cuju Media, is an iOS app that plans to do just that and was actually started before QuizUp came out. With the World Cup around the corner, and with over 3 billion football fans on the planet, SportsQuest is well-timed.
SportsQuest is a competitive quiz game for iPhone and iPad that lets sports fans test their knowledge against their friends and the clock. The game features a database of over 26,000 questions in 260 categories covering football and 21 other sports. It also includes a crowd-sourcing feature where players can send in their own questions and receive in-game currency and trophies if their questions are used.
It differs from other quiz apps in that, as well as real-time head-to-head gameplay, SportsQuest offers solo games.
Co-founder James Duez says “Players can also ‘play ahead’ when their friends are busy, and let them catch-up. Your opponent gets to play against a recording of your game, so to them it feels live.”
QuizUp has had some criticism for rewarding persistence a little more than knowledge. Instead, SportsQuest has a leaderboard, and players are rewarded for sports knowledge and speed by recognizing cumulative, highest and average scores.
SportsQuest is a also a bit more than a simple quiz. It’s fast-paced with games lasting under a minute. Its in-app currency can be spent on in-game perks that add a strategic dimension and can get you out of a hole.
Like some other free-to-play games like Candy Crush, there is a regenerating ticket mechanism so that players can start off with a book of five game tickets that, once used, immediately regenerate for free every 20 minutes. Impatient players can recharge their books immediately by introducing a friend or can pay 69p. The game also offers unlimited passes for an hour, or one-day and seven-day passes. There are many other payment options.
You can enroll by email, Facebook or Twitter, but the game does not post on your behalf unless you choose to share individual achievements. Some games (including QuizUp) are quick to embarrass you if you do not do well by posting your failures online, which can be annoying.
