QuizTix: Video Games Review • Codec Moments

We’re in a pickle here at Codec Moments, the Prof started a delicate isolation experiment last week to study the effects of short term audio deprivation, and unfortunately Brian has lost the key to the soundproof cabinet he’s in. We know he took his Thermos of tea and a pack of Jaffa Cakes in there with him, so let’s hope it’s enough to sustain him for a few days. Anyway, he was scheduled to do this week’s Cost of a Coffee, and the only way to fill his immense shoes is to rope in two other writers… so here’s Andy and Graham with their thoughts on QuizTix: Video Games on iOS and Android.

Andy

Quiz Tix: Video Games is the latest in the series that has already produced Movies, Music and Football quiz games where you are presented with an empty arena and tasked to fill it by answering questions. The seats are in blocks and each block is a different category; in the blocks every seat has an associated question and you can fill it when you get it right, which will also earn you one of the titular ‘Quiz Tix’ that will open up more categories as you collect them.

It’s a really simple premise and one that works in its purest form: answer questions, unlock more questions. The majority of the questions were fairly easy, but that’s coming from someone in his mid-thirties who works in the games industry; I know who composed the Legend of Zelda theme as we did a piece related to it a few weeks ago; I know what game was packaged with the Game Gear as my friend Scott had one when we were nine. For a person in their early 20s or younger, a lot of these questions will be pretty challenging as they don’t have that first-hand knowledge. The downside is the loss of the retro reminiscence factor that had me grinning like a cat, however without it a lot of the questions may just seem obscure.

To continue to answer questions you need to have at least one ‘Quiz Fizz Token’, which can be earned by collecting ‘Quiz Fizz’ (I like to imagine it’s like Tab Clear), for answering questions quickly and completing rows and blocks. You can also buy Quiz Fizz in-app or earn it by waiting forever, or by watching a promotional video. When you get a question wrong the seat is locked out for six hours before you can have another go and you lose a volume of Quiz Fizz.

Now it’s a free game, but the in-app purchases are frustrating… I actually like in-app purchases, especially ones that provide a permanent buff to the game, so I was interested in seeing if I could increase the rate at which my Quiz Fizz would build. For £1.49 I could double the rate my Quiz Fizz recharges at. The trouble is, it’s so slow to recharge that the game also offers a 5x and 10x recharge option with the 10x costing £4.99. The impact of this was me thinking:

I don’t want to pay £4.99 for that, and clearly the 2x is pointless if they have these other options… I won’t spend anything then.

The result of which is a game that I now dip in and out of, rather than play with vigour, and as of yet I have no friends playing that will drive the competitive aspect to it (that is, comparing scores with Facebook friends).

Graham

Like a Cold War spy, I was passed a code in the dead of night for an iOS game, the name or type of this game was kept a secret until I had entered the code in the App Store. My initial reaction to seeing QuizTix: Video Game was slight disappointment as quiz games either bore me or create a competitive monster to which no one is safe. Luckily this game doesn’t enrage the competitive beast in me like Trivial Pursuit would so unfortunately it falls into the boring category. The fact I am not a massive fan of quiz games does put me at a disadvantage immediately, but I wanted to give it a chance.

The questions are mostly easy, but are punctuated by random ones that if you are not a massive fan of a game type or genre you will struggle to get. You can earn help that sees 2 wrong answers taken away, and a neat feature where you hit a button and you score a right answer. Overall though, it feels like the only goal is for you to either pay some money or watch an ad, little else inspiring happens. I felt no sense of achievement and the correct answer awards are offset by getting a few questions wrong which very quickly brings in the requirement to pay or watch an ad. I will admit that as soon as I was given that choice I put it down and didn’t pick it up again until I had to check some of the points I have mentioned.

I get that we are all different and what appeals to me may not appeal to others and vice versa, but I cannot really see who would like this game. Die hard quiz fans? Die hard gamers? To summarise it’s not challenging and has little incentive to play it more than a couple of times. The mechanics are a little clunky and imprecise, and the game seems to be quite childish in its appearance. Certainly not for me.

So there we have it, should you spend your coffee money on QuizTix: Video Games instead? Our reviewers say no. Enjoy the free aspect, engage in what it does well, compete against your friends who also play the game, but be careful with your cash on the in-app purchases. There’s lots of potential here, but sadly the obvious monetisation is a turn off.

Review codes for the iOS version of QuizTix: Video Games were provided by the QuizTix team. The game is available now on iOS and Android for free from the respective stores, along with 3 other quiz offerings: World Football, Movies and Pop Music.