I recently found a free app for my Android device called, QuizUp. It has pretty much every educational topic and subtopic that I can think of, plus some not so educational extras regarding celebrity stuff, various fandom-knowledge- based subjects as well as era-related trivia, the list just keeps going. I'm convinced that there is something for everyone in this app, it's quite extensive in it's offerings (over 550 subjects) and I have found it thoroughly enjoyable!
The way it's played is this: you against another player from anywhere in the world in which the two of you go head to head in real-time and test your knowledge of the chosen subject in 10 questions (rounds) which are timed with 4 multiple choice answers to choose from in each round. Let me tell you, I found this somewhat addicting! It can be very challenging, but so much fun at the same time. I would normally never play anything live against a total stranger, but it added to the fun! I've even had a couple of people challenge me to a rematch, (you always have to option of saying no), but it was too much fun to pass up.
As far as registration, it's quick and easy, your profile is fully customizable, and you can choose any username that you like, which is great and made it something I felt comfortable with using not only for myself, but also my teens. I have played people from all around the world, and despite the fact that some of the questions were geared toward United States-related statistics, data, or general knowledge, I had some pretty stiff competition and lost my fair share of matches to many people who not only have learned English as a second language, but who are also quite proficient in their knowledge of the happenings in America. (note to self: study harder, read more, learn more) WIN EVERYTHING! {ahem}
The app will let you know you periodically of your various achievements and gives you the option of posting it to social media, (bragging rights) but I usually opt out. Additionally, there is a shop where one can buy a sort of booster to increase their levels/scores to accelerate faster, but I've not tried that, to me that just sort of takes away the fun of getting higher scores old-school style (but that's just me, old school, yo). There are other options that I've not tried, but that are available as well, such as chat, going back in your history and requesting a past player to play again, etc. The only thing that I can imagine would make this game even better is an option to connect to people that you personally know and play against them, but it's still one of my all-time favorite games/apps thus far.
The app is made quite well, it is extremely well thought-out, and frankly, I don't know how it's free. But, it is free (and awesome). For me, an action-packed video game-challenged woman, this game tests my brain's reflexes over my hands reflexes, and that's the kind of "gaming" I'm "game for." Get it? (Of course you do, you are very smart and quite attractive too, dear reader...don't tell the others, but you are my favorite, shhhhhh). Anyway, I have found myself seeking out answers to questions from the matches I've played in this app, and that's a good thing, because I'm learning something new, or something that I thought I knew but didn't, and will often dive deeper into the subject that I'm currently interested in, because I'm, well, interested. I love that. Learning is taking place, and that's important to me.
Since there are so very many topics to choose from -(from basic math and higher, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, history, geography, science, on and on)- I'd say this app would be suitable for anyone from upper elementary and up. However, I would caution parental supervision with your younger players since this app does have a chat option built in, as well as in-app purchases. This was a fabulously fun find for me, and I hope that you will also enjoy it, and learn along the way!
The maker of this app is: Plain Vanilla Games Corp; this app can be found in the Google App Store, here.
If you have this app/ game, I'd love to hear what your current favorite subject is-- (Mine is currently: Health)
~This post was originally published in my other (education-related) blog.~
