Where are all the fun online trivia games?

June 22, 2008 7:50 AM

I love trivia! And, I love playing games on the internet. Problem is, finding both of these has been disappointing.

There are some well-known sites such as funtrivia.com. But these usually have static games that track your scores against other people.

I want to play in real time, such as the way a game like isketch.net works. When you google this question, you get a lot of sketchy sites asking for all kinds of information to register, and then no one is actually playing.

My trivia needs are so unfulfilled. Can anyone help?

posted by UseyurBrain to computers & internet (11 comments total)

http://www.triviamania.com/

Perhaps?
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:33 AM on June 22

Egghead trivia has real-time games with live hosts who ask the questions and give players approximately 15 seconds to respond. I haven't played there in a long time, but the games used to vary between 60 and 90 minutes each.
posted by Oriole Adams at 8:46 AM on June 22

You Don't Know Jack.
posted by Pronoiac at 9:35 AM on June 22

Know it all.
You may have to disable ad blocking software in order to get it to work.
posted by 517 at 10:10 AM on June 22

I'm always on the lookout for fun online trivia, but have been playing at Trivia Hall of Fame (12 questions daily) and Sploofus (user submitted quizzes, and sometimes really wordy questions). Neither one is amazing, but good for a bit of a diversion.
posted by synecdoche at 12:38 PM on June 22

Jeffamaphone: Thanks for your link. Here is a brief review if anyone is wondering:

Site does require download of software and registration with lots of personal info. There are two games (First to 5, and All In). It also seems you can bet real money on these trivia games if you wish (wow). Never could find even one other player to play 'First to 5' in free play, but did get in a couple of games of 'All In'.

Basically, it's a poker game where you bet that you can answer more questions than everyone else. New twist on trivia and fun.
posted by UseyurBrain at 1:12 PM on June 22

My favourite trivia hangout is #trivialoft on the Austnet irc server. Pretty laidback atmosphere, sometimes a bit raunchy but you really don't have to get into conversations if you don't want to.
posted by h00py at 6:15 PM on June 22

I have a great suggestion for you, UseyurBrain. Stop in at the Trivia Arena. http://triviaarena.com

I used to be totally addicted to what I call "live trivia", where you play head to head with whoever is there. If no one is there when you are, you go head on with the trivia bot that just keeps shooting out more questions for you to answer, correctly or not.

I first started playing at organized sites where people would devise trivia questions for the room, and while they were fun and very social, I personally prefer a faster game. Nothing beats a trivia bot for that. Question after question, with mere seconds to answer correctly... and SPELLING COUNTS! It's just a fine way to...well...use your brain, not to mention improve your spelling and your typing speed if you care to win.

The Trivia Arena was started as a place for "live" trivia teams from all over the net to compete, winning some bragging rights in the meantime.

When you hit this site, look around, but pay particular attention to their list of teams that play there. Pick one or many and start practicing. The teams organize matches against other teams to be played in the Trivia Arena. Right now it is their off-season, but there are some upcoming "girls vs boys" matches that are always tons of fun. I highly recommend that you stop in for at least one of them. Check the calendar at the Trivia Arena for times and dates. Just to get you in the mood....think about answering trivia questions in seconds. If it takes you more than ten seconds to think of the answer, to type it and spell it correctly, you won't be racking up many points. If you are a competitive person by nature, you are gonna just LOVE this!
posted by LiveLurker at 8:07 PM on June 22

Sporcle. New quizzes added daily.
posted by saladin at 4:46 AM on June 23

Hmm, I seem to have misunderstood what you meant by "real time." Still, Sporcle has some great games, it's entirely worth checking out.
posted by saladin at 4:47 AM on June 23

I am loving trivia arena LiveLurker...thanks!
posted by UseyurBrain at 7:22 PM on June 23