Here’s how to play HQ Trivia, the smartphone game from a red-hot startup rumored to be worth $100 million

Vine's creators are behind HQ Trivia, a unique trivia-style app that around 60,000 people play twice a day.
HQ Trivia is run like a game show, with two live game sessions each day at 3pm ET and 6pm ET.
Winners are allotted real cash prizes, and it's free to participate.
The company behind the app is reportedly raising $15 million at a $100 million valuation from Peter Thiel's VC firm, Founders Fund.

HQ Trivia is quickly becoming one of the most buzz-worthy gaming apps on the market: a trivia-styled, fast-paced mashup of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' and 'Jeopardy' for the internet age. On Friday, Recode reported that the company behind the app was raising $15 million at a $100 million valuation from Peter Thiel's venture capital firm, Founders Fund.

can only play HQ Trivia twice a day, when the app streams a video with a live game show host who rattles off questions in real time against a swirling polka-dot background

The app sends push notifications when the game is about to start; everyday at 3 p.m. ET and 9 p.m ET. There's a countdown, and then the round begins with a series of multiple-choice questions that draw from historical events, literary devices, celebrity knowledge, and more. The few times I played, I wasn't able to get beyond the fifth question, but other players were luckier: one game divvied up $1,000 between 8 winners (that's $125 per person), and the app's co-founder, Rus Yusupov, has plans to up the ante. "I'd love to give away a million dollars someday," Yusupov told Business Insider.

This isn't Yusupov's first foray into video apps Vine in 2012. One of Vine's co-founders, Colin Kroll, also joined Yusupov's venture into gaming, and Yusupov says the hype surrounding HQ Trivia is similar to the success Vine experienced early on.

You'll typically find about 60,000 players tuning into a single game on HQ Trivia, with varying cash prizes awarded.

All you'll need to sign up for HQ Trivia is a unique username and your phone number. The app will prompt you to allow notifications when you sign up, which is recommended if you don't want to miss out on future games.

Each day at 3pm ET and 9pm ET, there's a notification and a countdown begins. Players can participate in the strolling chat at the bottom of the screen while they wait for the game to begin.

You'll find the number of participants indicated in the upper left of the screen. When the game is about to start, the host welcomes the players Wheel of Fortune-style.

There's a 10-second window to answer each question — too quick to beat with a Google search. The questions typically start off easy and increase in difficulty as the game continues.

I was booted off the game after flubbing a question on 1980s pop bands.

Even when players lose a round, they can still stick around and watch the rest of the game unfold.

At the end of the game the winners are announced. This game offered a $1,000 total prize split between eight players, meaning each player took home $125.

Currently, HQ Trivia is both ad-free and free to play, but there's plans to monetize the game in the future.

You can download HQ Trivia for free over at the App Store.

Here’s how to play HQ Trivia, the smartphone game from a red-hot startup rumored to be worth $100 million

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