I am addicted…to Trivia Crack (App Review)

Before all those aunties start shaking  their heads and start giving my example to their kids on me coming out as a drug addict & getting high on some crack, let me clarify : Trivia Crack really does get me high. I get euphoric when I am able to crush and beat my opponent. I get excited when my questions get approved or when I win a challenge. I get ecstatic when I am able to guess a question right without having to use my coins.

Trivia Crack is an educational game that is a perfect mix of entertainment and knowledge. There is a free version at the app store and an ad-free one that you have to pay for. You create an account through email or Facebook and start playing with your Facebook friends or random people.

There are two game modes : classic and challenge.

In classic you verse your friend or the random person you are playing with. There are six categories : Entertainment, Art, Sports, History, Science and Geography.The aim of the game is to answer correctly the questions of the six categories that the game has to offer. There is a wheel of chance that spins and lands on the category. If you get three categories right, you get to choose which crown character you would like to win or challenge your friend to win his/her character.

  
The first person to get all characters wins the game.

There are four options to choose from when answering.

You also get power ups such as extra time ( which costs you a coin but you get extra 15 seconds to answer) , bomb (5 coins (it eliminates two options)), double chance (5 coins ( you get to answer one more time if you answered incorrectly ) and the option to skip the question (3 coins). When you win a classic game you gain 3 coins.

Now in a challenge game, you are pitted against 15 to 20 people who are currently playing the game. The amount of coins you can gain varies but the minimum is 6. You get 2 questions from each category and you can’t use the power up options. It is also a race against time as the person who scores the highest in the least amount of time wins.

There are several pros and cons to the game.

Advantages :

• It is a great way to pass the time while you are on the commute or in a long queue.
• You increase knowledge in a fun interactive way.
• It has quite many features to dabble with.
• You get to create your own questions and rate other’s questions.
• One can interact and communicate with players within games.
• The game comes in several languages such as Chinese, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, etc.

Disadvantages:

• The free version is crap as the game crashes once a video ad starts playing and you lose your turn.
• You are able to get 3 turns but you must wait for an hour for each to charge. You can buy lives (with real money) so you get 5 lives instead of 3.
• The ad free version retails for $ 3 on the app store which is a huge amount for just a game *
• Since the game’s questions are created by the players, the credibility and the content of questions can be compromised.
• Suggested questions must be approved by other players who can reject if they wish so.
• I find that the there aren’t diverse questions in the art category. It would be great to include questions on fashion, literature and the like instead of just on Renaissance painters.

The game is great if you pay for it as the app store has many customers who are complaining about it crashing in the middle due to ad. It tends to be very frustrating especially when you are winning. Other than that it is an addictive game and I enjoy playing it.

* Update : The game is currently for $0.99 for a limited time at the time of writing.

***All images are screenshots from my iPhone.

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Moon Sighting Confusion!!

Background : The Islamic calendar is based on the moon, unlike the Gregorian calendar that follows the sun. So for Muslims the beginning of the next day actually starts at sunset and not at 12 am midnight.Also since it’s a lunar calendar, each month of the Islamic calendar is of 29/30 days as opposed to 30/31 days.

Ramadan this year was quite uneventful. By uneventful I don’t mean that it wasn’t very spiritually enlightening, rather the Imam of my mosque slammed down all the commotion that occurs every year of when the Eid* will be by asking the mosque- goers that there wouldn’t be a single question or discussion on it. I came to Australia 5 years ago and there hasn’t been a single Ramadan that wasn’t fraught with debates on moon sighting and occurrence of Eid. People wish to know before-hand which day the festival falls on so they can take the day off work and kids can quit school for the day. By before-hand I mean like a month earlier. Now Eid and moon-sighting go hand in hand.If one can sight a sliver of the crescent moon on the 29th or 30th night of Ramadan,then Eid is declared the next day. How can anyone know when the moon will be spotted a month before-hand?

Now get this : The board of Imams declared Eid to be on Friday, the 17th of July, 2015. They declared it on Tuesday the 16th of June ,2015, almost a month early to hush the persistent questioning of people whining about Eid, holidays, and problematic bosses. And thus Ramadan was quite peaceful.

On the 29th night, after breaking the fast, my older brother Khalid and me (and later the whole family) went out to sight the moon with our naked eye. It had always been the tradition of mum and me to eat Iftar** as quickly as we could and go for moon-sighting. Usually Melbourne sky is enveloped with clouds but that evening the sky was as clear as could be. And despite efforts put in by the whole family, the moon couldn’t be sighted. Next option : to rely on sighting from Hilal committee (Moon Sighting Committee), the experts with the big telescopes. And by Isha*** , it was declared that the moon was not sighted anywhere in Australia. The board of Imams, on the other hand, stuck to their decision of celebrating on Friday. Maybe it hurt their ego or maybe the wrath of thousands of Melburnians who had taken leave according to schedule would be overwhelming. My family decided to stick to moon-sighting and hence we would celebrate Eid on Saturday after observing the whole 30 day fast. We were in the minority but we were adamant. The majority were feeling a bit apprehensive but they justified with the hadeeth of following the Imam.

We fasted the next day while our friends celebrated Eid. Eid was also declared in Saudi Arabia and so people celebrating got to validate their Eid. Of course we attended the parties throughout the day which were full of debates and exchange of views on who is right and who is not. We neither condoned nor condemned anyone. But all this left me feeling a bit nonplussed.

Two days ago, the Saudi government announced that the moon sighted on the Thursday evening was in fact incorrect as it was not the moon that was sighted, rather the planet Saturn. And hence Eid was actually meant to be on the Saturday.

The End.

*The Islamic festival of celebration that happens at the end of Ramadan.

**Breaking of fast.

*** The night prayer.

^The crescent image is via Freeimage while the Eid celebration is from Google Search