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Library/Game/HQ Trivia
Grade B36 sourcesHIS-00220

HQ Trivia

Game · 2017 · Notable

Made by Intermedia Labs in-house · Source

57Editable slideCertificate

A live mobile quiz grew to a reported peak of 2.38 million concurrent players.

Trailer · CNN Brand Marketing on YouTube

Avery Armour

@averyarmour · Jan 2, 2018

Watching Lauren May’s roller coaster of emotions as she realized she’s won $11.30 playing @hqtrivia yesterday was a truly epic start to the new year @ScottRogowsky @L_M_A_Y @megmk #HQTrivia

1.1K82
Post · @averyarmour on X

Rus

@rus · Mar 29, 2020

Bringing @hqtrivia back tonight with @mattwasfunny!! 9p ET on the HQ app

949164
Post · @rus on X
Big Human design mockups of HQ Trivia gameplay, results and the leaderboard.
Big Human
CNN Films - Glitch: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia
CNN Brand Marketing on YouTube
Now trending: HQ, the trivia game show app
CBS News
Watching Lauren May’s roller coaster of emotions as she realized she’s won $11.30 playing @hqtrivia yesterday was a truly epic start to the new year @ScottRogowsky @L_M_A_Y @megmk #HQTrivia
@averyarmour on X
HQ-top-10-best-apps-2017
TIME
time-final
TIME
HQ Trivia - Invention, Branding, UX/UI Design | Big Human
Big Human
Game over for HQ Trivia as it runs out of money
CBS News
HQ Trivia's Scott Rogowsky: 'There Are Other Games in the Pipeline'
MacRumors
'It spread like a virus': Agencies are obsessed with HQ Trivia
Digiday
HQ expands beyond trivia with new 'Wheel of Fortune'-type game
Digiday

Spread Score

How it works
Reach73Contagion75Breadth90Velocity0Longevity1757

Numbers

Reported peak concurrency; agency gives 2.4M
2.4M–2.4M
As of Aug 14, 2018 · Self-reported · TechCrunch
Seed to peak
7 months
Aug 26 ’17 to Mar 28 ’18
Platforms
5
Started on App stores
Origin
Seeded
Gaming

Mechanics

  • Daily ritualPrimary
  • Platform jump
  • Press loop
  • Dupe economy
  • Controversy

How it spread

Trace the origin

HQ launched on iPhone and spread through workplace play, Slack and Twitter reactions. Reported concurrency peaked in spring 2018 as brands sponsored prize games. Downloads then fell, and a failed acquisition led to its February 2020 shutdown.

Wikipedia views · Google searchesJun ’17OctDecFeb ’18AprJulOctAug ’19Apr ’20Jul ’21Oct ’22PeakApp storesPressGroup chatsTVX
App storesPressGroup chatsTVX

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

Timeline (16)

  1. August 2017

    Intermedia Labs seed · Aug 26 ’17

    Intermedia Labs released HQ Trivia for iPhone.[1][2]

    HQ Trivia's Scott Rogowsky: 'There Are Other Games in the Pipeline'
    Open the first post ↗

  2. October 2017

    TechCrunch press · Oct 17 ’17

    TechCrunch published the first reported press coverage of HQ Trivia.[3]

  3. HQ players commercial · Oct 29 ’17

    The Verge reported growth from about 4,000 to over 16,000 players per game in one week.[4]

Changelogupdated Oct 12 ’26
  1. 2026-10-12Added: 16 events, 28 sources · Score 53
Origin
Seeded
Sector
Gaming
Region
US
Reported peak concurrency; agency gives 2.4M
2.4M–2.4M
As of Aug 14, 2018 · Self-reported · TechCrunch
Evidence
Grade B

Spread the same way

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Group chats · 2024

63
Hamster Kombat’s March 25 access announcement artwork, with the hamster character and WE STARTING text.

100M players

Connections

Open web · 2023

60
Very excited to share the game I've been working on, Connections! I've loved making it, and hope you enjoy playing. Huge thanks to Heidi Erwin @oatmemo, Bella Virgilio, and the @NYTGames team 😍🥳

20M players

PEAK

Open web · 2025

56
Steam :: PEAK :: WE FINALLY RELEASED PEAK...

2M sold

Fruit Love Island

TikTok · 2026

48
Episode 1 of Fruit Love Island! Which couple are you rooting for? 🍿 #ai #aifruit #aistory #fruit #cinema

4.4M impressions

New cases, every week

How the next thing spread, the week it does.

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· Source
Wikipedia views · Google searchesJun ’17OctDecFeb ’18AprJulOctAug ’19Apr ’20Jul ’21Oct ’22PeakApp storesPressGroup chatsTVX
App storesPressGroup chatsTVX

13 more events on this chart

Join free to see them

  1. August 2017

    Intermedia Labs seed · Aug 26 ’17

    Intermedia Labs released HQ Trivia for iPhone.[1][2]

    HQ Trivia's Scott Rogowsky: 'There Are Other Games in the Pipeline'
    Open the first post ↗

  2. October 2017

    TechCrunch press · Oct 17 ’17

    TechCrunch published the first reported press coverage of HQ Trivia.[3]

  3. HQ players commercial · Oct 29 ’17

    The Verge reported growth from about 4,000 to over 16,000 players per game in one week.[4]

  1. platform jump · Nov 30 ’17

  2. platform jump · Dec 10 ’17

Join free to see the other 13 events and the full chart. Free, on every case.

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Why it worked

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