HQ is a rapid-fire trivia show that is presented live on the app twice daily at 3 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET. It has a host (the hugely energetic Scott
Rogowsky, pictured top left) and actual cash rewards for those who make it through the 12 multiple-choice questions that come flying fast and furious onto one’s screen during each telecast. I’m referring to the presentations of this show as telecasts, because I see this as yet another extension of television – one that will likely have sponsors flocking to it and competitors developing shows similar to it once it spreads like wildfire, or goes viral if you prefer, which it will most likely do. I can’t imagine why it wouldn’t.
I was introduced to HQ earlier this week by a dinner companion in Atlanta. Download the app, he told everyone at the table with great urgency. That was around 8:30 p.m. Shortly thereafter, those of us who had followed his orders received on-screen notifications that the Sunday night edition was about to begin. (Those notifications come in twice a day, disrupting whatever is going on and reminding interested parties that the game is about to begin.)
What followed was the most enjoyable few minutes of the evening. Everyone at the table played as one collective contestant opposite more than 30,000 other players. The game wasn’t half over when all but a few hundred remained, including all of us at the table, participating as a single hive. Alas, we were bounced before the end.
One thing that makes HQ so exciting to play is that it seems to be Google-proof. Each question appears, along with three possible answers, but players have only about ten seconds to touch the answer they believe to be