Working in the world of mobile games, it’s easy to become jaded. There are so many games released every day, and the stuff that rises to the top of the iTunes charts tends to be targeted at the non-traditional gaming masses, aka the “casual audience." Not that I don’t enjoy plenty of casual games, but when I see one rise up the ranks of the iTunes charts I tend not to pay it much mind as that sort of thing happens all the time. Such was the case with Trivia Crack ($9.99). You’ve probably noticed it yourself. Its colorful, smiling icon has been atop both the free and paid charts for the past couple of months. However, at the urging of my not-typically-a-gamer fiancée, I’ve fallen into the black hole of Trivia Crack and have come to realize that it’s actually one of the best trivia games I’ve ever played.
The easiest way to describe Trivia Crack is that it’s like Trivial Pursuit condensed into an asynchronous, mobile-friendly package like Words With Friends. You’ll spin an ever-popular gameshow-like wheel which will land on one of six categories: Entertainment, Art, Sports, History, Science or Geography. Answer three multiple-choice questions right and you’ll earn an opportunity to answer a question in the category of your choosing and win the “Crown" for that category. The basic goal of the game is to win all six category Crowns before your opponent is able to do so. There’s also a seventh bonus Crown segment on the wheel which, when landed on, will bypass the need to answer three questions correctly and will take you directly to a shot at a category Crown.
In a cool twist to the formula described above, you can also opt to “Challenge" an opponent instead of going straight for the Crown in a category. This will allow you to attempt to “steal" a Crown that your opponent has already won by answering more questions right than they do out of a series of six questions. Should you both tie, the person being challenged will get an opportunity to answer one final “winner takes the Crown" question.
In addition to the Classic mode which I’ve laid out above, there’s also a Challenge mode. Here you’re pitted against up to 9 other opponents in an all-out battle to answer the most questions right out of 12 as quickly as possible. This is a nice alternative to the Classic mode if you’re just interested in answering a bunch of trivia questions without the time-consuming part of the asynchronous 1v1 mode.
So, with most of the “how it works" stuff out of the way, what is it exactly that’s so appealing about Trivia Crack? Well for one, its asynchronous nature is super conducive to mobile gaming. It’s a piece of cake to pop in and play a few rounds when the mood strikes. Comparatively, getting folks together and sitting down to play through an entire game of Trivial Pursuit is something that rarely if ever happens in my life anymore.
Just as important as the streamlined gameplay is the trivia questions themselves. As much as I love trivia and games like Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy, I’m also often frustrated when the questions are just too darn difficult for me to answer. Trivia Crack has a brilliant system to combat this called the Question Factory. Here you can suggest questions of your own, rate the questions that are currently out there, or translate other peoples’ questions into your native language. It’s highly community-driven and as such there are a whole lot of “regular people" questions out there. The questions feel along the lines of the type I hear at my local pub trivia nights.
Now, I’m not saying that all the questions are super-easy, though some definitely are, but this approach gives a nice balance of questions that span from easy to hard and pretty much everything in-between. This also means there are some lame duck questions in the pool, but in my experience they’re very few and far between. Also the Question Factory ensures that there’s a ton of trivia questions to go through. There’s nothing I hate more than a trivia game with a very limited amount of questions that causes you to cycle through the same questions over and over.
You might have noticed that’s there’s two versions of Trivia Crack: one free and ad-supported, one that’s $2.99 and ad-free. However, both versions have a very free-to-play structure which I’m sure will turn some people off. Both versions have an energy timer, but it’s honestly not that bad. You start out with 3 hearts and every game you play costs you a heart. A heart will regenerate every hour. For most people, having 3 games going at once will be enough, and having to wait an hour to start a new one isn’t a big deal. If you want to eliminate the heart system completely you can buy an unlimited heart IAP for $24.99, a steep price for a mobile game but probably worth it if you’re a hardcore player. There’s also a $4.99 option which bumps up your heart allotment to 5, and this is the one I went for and I’ve found it more than adequate to play the game basically as much as I want.
The more worrisome elements to Trivia Crack are the consumable Spin and Coin items. The Spin item lets you re-spin the wheel if you land on a category that you don’t want, and the Coins let you enable one of four “power-ups" which can affect the question you’re given. These power-ups are: Extra Time time to answer the question (you’re given 30 seconds by default), a Bomb that eliminates two of the four answer choices giving you a 50/50 shot at picking the right answer, Double Chance which gives you a second chance to answer if you choose incorrectly the first time, and Skip which will get rid of your current question and fetch you a new one. The power-ups definitely have an element of “pay to win" but they’re also balanced out by being restricted: You can only re-spin for a new category once per spin, and you can only use one power-up per question. I don’t personally use either of the consumables, but it’s never felt like they’ve affected my enjoyment of the game one bit if other people are using them.
I was surprised to find that Trivia Crack launched on iOS way back in October of 2013. Based on its ranking charts at AppAnnie, it’s bounced up and down a lot since then before finally topping the charts this past December. I have no idea what caused it to finally break through into the masses, whether it was some sort of paid user acquisition or just the nature of word-of-mouth, but I honestly don’t care. Trivia Crack is a really phenomenal trivia game and has become a daily habit for me. The whole cliché of “addicting" iPhone games is so tired that you may have seen the name Trivia Crack and simply dismissed it. I know I did. However, if you enjoy trivia and are looking for a way to more easily enjoy it with a busy lifestyle, I’d urge you to at the very least give the free version of Trivia Crack a download.
What's the point of continuing to post his videos? You've already given him a shoutout. If people want to watch his videos then they can continue to subscribe/look him up on YouTube. Honestly posting these just kinda brings down the quality of the site as a news source.
Some people like a nice variety of content. If you don't, it's very clear what this is looking at the title so you could just not click it?
Because he wants to hold his head high, proclaiming that Touch Arcade is an institution of journalistic integrity and honor, free from the wiles of temptation, unlike those cesspools "CNN" and.... I can't think of any others. Where am I?
Exactly
I understand that, but I don't see why an iOS news outlet needs to be posting his videos when they are of free games that are already released. I can understand if they were posting videos of his that showed coverage of an upcoming game, but these are games that are often at the top of the free charts and readily available to everyone. They just kinda seem like irritating filler for hits
I couldn't agree with you more.Obviously some people here will find something to whine about when they can choose not to click on the post knowing that it has Lonnie's name in the title.What harm is it anyways that TA is making these posts?It doesn't bother me and I can always choose to scroll past this if I wasn't interested.I'm seriously baffled.
Because they're linking another source's mediocre content that is in no way provides valuable information
You just described your effing posts, not Lonnie's videos. Have some cheese with your whine. In the meantime ignore them, and act like an adult.
I read TA every day and this is the first I've heard about Lonnie Randall...so not everyone sees every article every day.
So true it shame
Agreed. However it's Nice of you guys to get the kid some viewer, well unless he's paying you then your evil sell outs and *sniff* I'm proud of you, Back to scrawny Lonnie: He never shuts up which is usually okay with a YouTube video actor/director/newscaster/pervert but he never shuts up with stupid boring idiotic comments. His voice is so so so monochrome, yes I used that word to describe the sound of some dude's voice. I would think it would be better to get that random telemarketer that no one understands to do the talking. I'm not saying I'm better by any means. I am simply criticizing someone with the impunity and self importance of all internet commenters! If you want a good video game nerd to watch instead of taking the time to write an actual article (heheheheh), please look no farther then (please note I'm not including a link go to YouTube): The Angry Video Game Nerd!
Hits.
"it's actually pretty impressive how good Lonnie is at playing it."
At least make it believable Jared.
Maybe I'm just super terrible at it? I thought it was impressive he broke 50 i couldn't even get close to that.
I love this kid's videos. Why all the hate?
Because they are bad???
400,000 subscribers disagree with you. I don't like him enough to go find him on YouTube, but I've enjoyed him in small doses. So far.
Just because someone has X amount of followers doesn't make a person great. I bet if there was someone with at least some maturity in their plays or reviews that number would drop in a heartbeat. Plus there have been enough TA links to him in the past week that I think we can move on from this topic. Sorry but Lenny has zero maturity and more than enough exposure from TA that TA can post more relavant iOS posts/links than about Lenny.
I could get 400,000 subscribers easily. My YouTube channel would be called: "NuGaming!" It's will be a channel that is totally dedicated to the scientific belief that being nude helps you win at games. All videos will contain a naked girl or guy playing a video game. The pilot episode is going to see if being completely naked is better then being simply topless. Do girl with bigger um...top units... Play better then girls with small? Do men with massive "joysticks" actually lose so much blood that their gaming skills suffer? These very important questions and more!
This needs to happen! Shut up and take my money!
Maybe they (1) have some monetizing deal with the kid or (2) geeks just like geeks I suppose 😄
I'd like to see TouchArcade do their own video work. And if they need a Video Producer/Editor to stream and capture, let me know. Then we wouldn't be bound to whatever Lonnie has played.
This is why I miss Brad Nicholson. Even though TA Plays videos had their own caveats, at least they had them
As I said in another Lonnie post, we had to stop TA Plays for various reasons but we are back to doing them again. Will shoot for posting at least one every day. That most likely will not keep us from continuing to post Lonnie's videos too, though.
Well, that's bittersweet
Haha, well as I said it's super easy to not watch the Lonnie videos if you don't enjoy them.
True, I mostly just dislike his name. It's kind of aesthetically displeasing to me so even seeing it in an article puts a bad taste in my mouth
Wait, so you're upset we're posting videos because you dislike the dude's ~name~?
Internet comments, holy cow.
C'mon Eli, I thought the sarcasm was obvious ahah
Great news! Can't wait to watch them. Just let me know if you need another video guy ;)
Not a large fan of this human.
This may be the worst idea ever conceived, but it will get the most replies ever seen in a comments section: Have Lonnie play Flappy Bird.
He has! https://www.youtube.com/wat... Maybe I should post this one tomorrow >:)
Lol
I guess the old advice still applies, "Be careful what you wish for...." 😉
Keep an eye out for Lonnie plays Flappy Bird as requested by Jake7905 tomorrow!
...DAMNIT!
What's with people? If TA wants to post something they like, that is compleatly relevant to the theme of their site, why is this a big deal? And how hard is it to NOT click on a link or not even bother reading an article if it has someone's name that you dislike in it? Is it really a struggle?
"Must...not...click...but hate...so ...over...whelming...must ...make comment ...to ...show...disgust...can't...ignore...must constantly be ...contentious...."
And so many people say he is "immature" ...how mature should a person making videos of iPhone games be? Will you not be happy until James Lipton makes ios videos?...oh that would be awesome.
...also Lonnie is called mediocre, and "not fit for a serious news source" Serious news source?(no offense to the awesome ppl at TA) this is a website designed for people, of whom the majority are, obsessed with tapping on a screen to get a result...be amused, then tap on the screen to get another result.(me being one)
This isn't the New Yorker, this isn't Harpers, this is already an entertainment magazine...why take yourself so serious all the time people? You're going to get ulcers.
Lonnie is fun, funny, relevant, pretty decent at the games he plays ...and I've watched his stuff before TA started posting and it's been the deciding factor in whether I will or will not bother with a game, free or paid... It's ok to not like something or someone. I personally cant stand most one touch/endless games. (Flappy endless runner,balance/hopping...etc type games like these) I think,generaly, they are a waste in every way...but (until now) you dont see me telling ppl about it, I just avoid it...other people love it, and that's ok....granted other people eat spray cheese and have sexual fantasies about their sister, but still...to each their own....and as far as the videos about the games I hate playing, I'll still watch someone play it, if I can get a laugh....point is ...just let people be.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Less characters....please
Tl dr
It just feels as though he's been featured a bit much, and although his videos are iOS gameplay related, imho they don't feel like a good fit for a site mostly geared towards those that are into the latest and greatest of iOS gaming. If I was in the mood for total silliness, I'd go check out his channel, and then watch cat videos. I come to TA for relevant discussions, upcoming game news, and spot-on and clever reviews, such as the consistently superb offerings by Shaun Musgrave. Ultimately, sure, I'll just skip over him; no problem. And, I can see why TA would throw his stuff out there, thinking we might enjoy it. But I can also definitely see why some people would like to see less of him here, and I tend to agree.
We have a very diverse reader base that is much broader than what is represented in comments, it's the same reason we cover both hardcore strategy stuff and casual free to play games. TouchArcade has a little something for everyone, and traffic statistics show that this content mix is working very well. If you don't like these videos, that's OK, hopefully one of the other dozen stories we posted today does interest you.
I suppose that's the final word then, from the big guy himself, lol. I hope I caused no offense; I only meant to provide insight from one perspective. That's interesting to know, and whatever keeps my favorite gaming site in the black ultimately works for me. And rest assured, I will be here periodically throughout the day, and I'm certain that the vast majority of what you post I will greatly enjoy :) thanks!
No, I know, I'm not offended. :)
Online communities are weird things, TouchArcade gets millions of unique visitors a month. At the absolute maximum a highly controversial story might get a couple hundred comments. Looking only at the comments of these videos, it'd be easy to think "Oh man, everyone hates Lonnie, what are they thinking?" In reality, that's only telling about 1% of the story. The people who comment aren't necessarily representative of our primary audience.
Here's a pretty good relevant article- http://martinbelam.com/2015...
Interesting - makes sense: I spent years as regular visitor before posting anything. Puts this whole discussion in a new light....
My nine year old daughter loves him. She wanted to watch the vid in the article. He's not my cup of tea, I dont think he's funny but my daughter lols all day at his videos and that's good enough for me. He's easy to avoid, it's not like the title isn't clear about what the article contains. Just move in and read something else
The only solution I can see after reading all of these comments is: if you are going to snag content from other sources than atleast highlight a different YouTuber each time instead of highlighting the same person? If indeed your intent is to add a variety of content to the feed than this would be far more effective. I will also add that it is kind of sad when the article that took the least amount of effort has the most comments for the day.
Lonnie is freaking lame. Yes, I came here just to post that.
Hey but 9 year olds love him! So I guess that means hits and it pays the bills...
I didn't think that was what the site was about but what the heck... Money is money I suppose. It's probably my fault for thinking the site was geared towards a -slightly- more adult audience. Hardly a big issue anyways