Palm OS Trivia Game Comparison

Introduction

Disclaimer: I am the developer of some of the following applications. As objective as I am trying to be here, no doubt some unintended bias has slipped in. But this is a living document (latest version here), and I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback (mailto:rjen@rjen.com) to add information and help me correct any injustices I may be unintentionally committing.

General Trivia Games

The heyday of Palm OS trivia games may be past, but there are still some excellent applications out there. The following eight all meet the following criteria:

Is first and foremost a trivia game, not a study aid or an e-book.
Includes high-quality, general knowledge trivia questions for U.S. audiences.
Runs on Palm OS 5, which is what almost all current Palm PDAs and cell phones use.
Has been updated in the last three years (December 1, 2003 is the current cutoff).
Is currently downloadable, purchasable (if necessary), and supported.

All information is to the best of my knowledge at the time of this writing. Prices are the lowest retail prices I found, not including temporary sales, discounts, or coupons.

Name Version
(Last Updated) Price # of Questions Author Web Site Notes

QuizQuilt 1.0.0
(December 1, 2006) $9.95 300+ Robert Jen http://www.rjen.com/Pilot/QuizQuilt.html Trivia and deduction game where each set of six answers hides the answer to a cryptic clue. Unlimited answer hints provided.

Quizzler / Quizzler Pro / Trivia Deluxe 4.0
(January 13, 2004) free / $15 / $19.99
(Some quizzes are $5-$19.50) 15,000+
(400+ bundled) Pocket Mobility http://www.quizzlerpro.com/index.html
http://www.quizzlerpro.com/quizlibrary.html M.c., fill in the blank, reverse Q&A, and T/F questions from the same quiz (if available); questions can include pictures; minimal color; optional timer; can create new quizzes on Palm (Quizzler: 1 memo pad record; Quizzler Pro: memo pad or doc file import), PC, or Mac; quizzes can have very long questions and pictures (view only - need Pro to create); Quizzler Math Wizzer ($9.50, generates simple math quizzes); Quizzler Gradebook ($14.50); $19.50 for Quizzler Maker (PC)

Smarty Pants Trivia 2.2
(February 13, 2004) $6.95 3,000+ Rampart Software Development http://www.rampartgames.com M.c. in 6 standard categories; 3 rounds (you pick, computer picks, all); no demo so I haven't tested it. Who Said That? is a similar but separate $6.95 app w/ 1,000+ movie quotes. Rampart Trivia Pack includes both for $9.95.

Triv 3.9.1
(December 15, 2006) $15.00 25,000+ Robert Jen http://www.rjen.com/Pilot/Triv.html Trivial Pursuit, WWTBAM, Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, Q&A variants; optional timer; free TrivWriter and TrivFind utilities. Demo limited to first 36 questions in each module (over 2,000 total).

Trivia King 2.0
(September 4, 2004) $4.95
$6.95 for Treo 600 version 1,000's? Skyzone Entertainment http://www.skyzone.playp.biz/GameLobby.aspx?Id=29955 Two game variations: Trivia Challenge (WWTBAM) and Categories. Company also has a Pop! Trivia Deluxe Game (no details known) and a $12.95 Trivia Pack of four games: Trivia King, Charades, Brainstorm, and Quiz Master ($3.95 by itself).

Trivia Machine 1.16
(December 1, 2006) $19.95 7,000+ Absolutist http://absolutist.com/palm/trivia_machine 9 categories including movies, science, music, literature, and geography. Well-designed game, but designed for a larger screen (the fonts are tiny, which is why this game runs only on HiRes devices).

Trivia To Go 1.0
(January 19, 2006) free 180+ Mobileplay http://www.mobileplay.com Sports and Sci-Fi versions are also available (identical except for the questions). Another version, which promises new downloadable questions every week, exists but I haven't tried it.

Trivial Pursuit 1.25
(December 3, 2003) $19.99 1,600+ Handmark http://www.handmark.com/products/detail.php?id=215 Officially licensed version. Standard TP game plus Flash game where 5 to 20 points wins. Nice graphics and sound. 320x480 screen support. Demo limited to 5 games. Apparently crashes on some newer devices like the Treo 650 when accessing menus.

Feature Comparison

All of these games support Palm OS 5 devices and color. This table summarizes some other major features.

Name # of Questions # of Players Multiple Choice Questions True/False Questions Short-Answer Questions Q & A Game Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Game Trivial Pursuit Game Jeopardy Game Minimum Palm OS Required HiRes Graphics

QuizQuilt 300+ 1 No No Yes Yes No No No 2.0 Yes

Quizzler 15,000+ 1 Yes (up to 10 choices) Yes Yes Yes No No No 3.0 No

Smarty Pants Trivia 3,000+ 1-4 Yes (3 choices) No No Yes No No No 3.5 No

Triv 25,000+ 1-4 Yes (4 choices) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 2.0 Yes

Trivia King 1,000's? 1-2 Yes (? choices) No No No Yes No No 3.0 No

Trivia Machine 7,000+ 1-4 Yes (3 choices) No No Yes No No No 5.0 Yes, HiRes only

Trivia To Go 180+ 1 Yes (4 choices) No No No No No Yes 3.5 No

Trivial Pursuit 1,600+ 1-6 Yes (4 choices) Yes No No No Yes No 3.5? Yes

Other Palm Applications With Trivia, Older Trivia Games, and Specialized Trivia Games

The following applications are listed with their latest version, last update, and price in parentheses. I have not provided web links because it's too much work to keep them up to date, but most of these can be easily found with a Google search of the name plus "Palm" and "trivia".

Noteworthy but not technically trivia games

Britannica Trivia Challenge (2.0, 12/4/06, $9.95) - 2,800 questions but more of a e-book (requires free Town Compass DataViewer) than a game (game-play is klunky).
QuizApp (2.0.4, 5/13/02, free) - Study application with 100's of geography questions; Palm OS 2.0+.
QuizWiz (3.3, 7/11/05, free) - Study application with 1,000+ trivia questions in random specialized quizzes. Snowboard terms and wine terms modules bundled; color; Palm OS 3.0+. Formerly a $14.95 product by Palmtop Learning but now supported by Nosleep Software. Dozens of free quizzes in the Quiz Library. (Note: this application could arguably join the eight games above, but the lack of general trivia quizzes and the variability of the quality of the quizzes are big negatives).

Some special-subject trivia games

American Football Trivia (1.2.2, 11/29/06, $4.99) - 200+ questions. Simple Java Virtual Machine game with multiple choice questions. Klunky interface: questions only take up top-right corner of screen and answers have to be selected from a pop-up list.
Baseball Trivia (1.3, 3/20/06, $8.50) - 200+ questions. See American Football Trivia game for more details.
ChartClimber (1.0.2, 10/24/00, free) - Board game with 500+ investment questions from Fidelity Investments. No longer available.
Film Quiz (4.1, 1/1/02, free) - WWTBAM movie game with 30 movie questions (need to get them ALL right to win). Pretty cool but low quality (typoes and incorrect answers, including the last one).
LDS Trivia (1.0, 8/7/02, free) - 165 questions about the Latter Day Saints. Requires NSBasic Runtime. B/W. Does not support Palm OS 5.
Lumos (2.0, 11/18/01, $5.00) - 170 Harry Potter m.c. trivia questions (first four books only); 10-question demo (no answers for rest); Palm OS 2.0+.
Missile Quiz (1.7, 12/23/05, $8.00) - Missile Command-themed arcade game where you need to answer trivia/math questions to save your cities. Additions (1- to 2-digit), Synonyms (one-word), State Capitals (all 50, but choices are only the 50 capitals), and Country Capitals (cf. State Capitals) quizzes. Palm OS 3.1+ (including Palm OS 5). 15-day trial. MS Windows quiz creator.
MJTriv (1.0, 6/18/01, free) - 200+ Michael Jordan m.c. & T/F trivia questions bundled with Michael Jordan Palms.
pointUSA (1.2, 3/29/04, $19.95) - Geography application that includes state quizzes (the ultimate almanac questions).
Quiz-Buddy (1.9, 4/5/04, free) - Palm companion program for Windows Quiz-Buddy application ($39.95). Includes 9 short quizzes (385 total questions) including vocabulary, capitals, and U.S. Presidents. Palm OS 3.5+ (including Palm OS 5).
QuizStud (1.0, 8/17/01, free) - 40 medical study questions.
SB Survival Kit (1.0, 1/24/03, free) - 10's of Super Bowl m.c. trivia with some other cool non-trivia Super Bowl features; color. Not updated since Super Bowl XXXVII.
Soccer Trivia (1.2, 3/20/06, $4.99) - 200+ questions. See American Football Trivia game for more details.

Some old trivia games that have not been updated since 2003 or earlier and hence may not work on Palm OS 5 devices

BrainBop (1.2.0, 6/7/02, $14.95) - 1,000+ questions. PDA Toolbox app with decent graphics.
Brain Freeze (1.0, 5/17/02, $5.00) - 100? questions. Canine and U.S. trivia modules bundled. History and Star Wars modules promised but never provided. Timer (not optional).
Millionaire (2.3, 1/5/02, $2.00) - 100 questions. Built w/ Satellite Forms (engine needs to be loaded); Also 300 Chinese Q; 4-week demo.
Millionaire UK (1.0, 6/9/02, $14.99 per pack) - Official WWTBAM UK edition. 50 demo questions, 2 level packs with 500 each.
PocketQualm (1.0.1, 4/10/03, $4.99) - 1,000+ questions but no options or much (not even a custom launcher icon). Timer cannot be turned off. grayscale only. 10-question demo.
Quizzer - (1.0, 1/20/03, free) - 200+ questions. Includes quiz generator, which is its best feature. Only 3 quizzes: Friends, TV (Dutch), and multiplication (very limited space).
Quiz Pioneer (1.1, 6/19/01, $5.99) - 1,000+ questions. WWTBAM and Practice modes. 15 questions per module (15 bundled free). A.k.a. Who Wants To Be a Quiz Pioneer?
ReviewMaster (2.0, 11/14/01, $14.95 [$39.95 for Pro version]) - Study application with 100's of trivia questions in the following specialized categories: Austin Powers & Apple Computer quizzes (AP & Seinfeld for version 1.0) other modules. Color. Pro version allows creation of modules. No longer available.
Squizzle (1.2, 11/16/01, $9.99) - 6,000+ questions. M.c. test with custom font. 1-9 players but no other options. Color. No longer being updated but still available for purchase.
Trivia Mania (1.0, 12/28/00, $14.99) - 5,000+ questions. Demo limited to 10 questions per module. Very simple game. Free Brain Buster (1,000 questions), Brain Buster II (900), Hollywood (100), Baseball (500), Basketball (200), Football (500), and Inaugural (10's?) bonus packs. DOS Question set generator. Apparently no longer supported.
What's My Line (1.0, 6/5/02, $7.00) - Given a scrolling lyric, guess the band; 25-question demo. Nicely done PDA Toolbox app.
Zillionaire (1.3, 2/1/01, $12.95 + $2.95/module) - 1,000+ question WWTBAM clone with good B/W graphics.

A few more old ones just for historical purposes (nothing worth downloading)

mQuiz (1.0, 9/4/01, $15.00) - Trivia questions in Chinese.
Quiz (1.0, 4/10/03, free) - 200 m.c. questions but very poor game.
QuizApril (1.0, 2002?, $2.95) - No details available.
Trivia Masters (1.0, 9/30/01, free) - Only 9 questions and very poor quality.
Who Wants to Win a Grand? (1.5, 12/31/03, $2.00) - 8 questions in history category, with math and people categories added for registered game. Hardcoded screens for each question.
Word Trivia (1.0, 7/5/03, $7.05) - Acrostic trivia with 12 puzzles (60 short-answer trivia questions).

[ Last updated 12/24/06 @ 1:06 AM ]

Name	Version (Last Updated)	Price	# of Questions	Author	Web Site	Notes
QuizQuilt	1.0.0 (December 1, 2006)	$9.95	300+	Robert Jen	http://www.rjen.com/Pilot/QuizQuilt.html	Trivia and deduction game where each set of six answers hides the answer to a cryptic clue. Unlimited answer hints provided.
Quizzler / Quizzler Pro / Trivia Deluxe	4.0 (January 13, 2004)	free / $15 / $19.99 (Some quizzes are $5-$19.50)	15,000+ (400+ bundled)	Pocket Mobility	http://www.quizzlerpro.com/index.html http://www.quizzlerpro.com/quizlibrary.html	M.c., fill in the blank, reverse Q&A, and T/F questions from the same quiz (if available); questions can include pictures; minimal color; optional timer; can create new quizzes on Palm (Quizzler: 1 memo pad record; Quizzler Pro: memo pad or doc file import), PC, or Mac; quizzes can have very long questions and pictures (view only - need Pro to create); Quizzler Math Wizzer ($9.50, generates simple math quizzes); Quizzler Gradebook ($14.50); $19.50 for Quizzler Maker (PC)
Smarty Pants Trivia	2.2 (February 13, 2004)	$6.95	3,000+	Rampart Software Development	http://www.rampartgames.com	M.c. in 6 standard categories; 3 rounds (you pick, computer picks, all); no demo so I haven't tested it. Who Said That? is a similar but separate $6.95 app w/ 1,000+ movie quotes. Rampart Trivia Pack includes both for $9.95.
Triv	3.9.1 (December 15, 2006)	$15.00	25,000+	Robert Jen	http://www.rjen.com/Pilot/Triv.html	Trivial Pursuit, WWTBAM, Jeopardy, Hollywood Squares, Q&A variants; optional timer; free TrivWriter and TrivFind utilities. Demo limited to first 36 questions in each module (over 2,000 total).
Trivia King	2.0 (September 4, 2004)	$4.95 $6.95 for Treo 600 version	1,000's?	Skyzone Entertainment	http://www.skyzone.playp.biz/GameLobby.aspx?Id=29955	Two game variations: Trivia Challenge (WWTBAM) and Categories. Company also has a Pop! Trivia Deluxe Game (no details known) and a $12.95 Trivia Pack of four games: Trivia King, Charades, Brainstorm, and Quiz Master ($3.95 by itself).
Trivia Machine	1.16 (December 1, 2006)	$19.95	7,000+	Absolutist	http://absolutist.com/palm/trivia_machine	9 categories including movies, science, music, literature, and geography. Well-designed game, but designed for a larger screen (the fonts are tiny, which is why this game runs only on HiRes devices).
Trivia To Go	1.0 (January 19, 2006)	free	180+	Mobileplay	http://www.mobileplay.com	Sports and Sci-Fi versions are also available (identical except for the questions). Another version, which promises new downloadable questions every week, exists but I haven't tried it.
Trivial Pursuit	1.25 (December 3, 2003)	$19.99	1,600+	Handmark	http://www.handmark.com/products/detail.php?id=215	Officially licensed version. Standard TP game plus Flash game where 5 to 20 points wins. Nice graphics and sound. 320x480 screen support. Demo limited to 5 games. Apparently crashes on some newer devices like the Treo 650 when accessing menus.

Name	# of Questions	# of Players	Multiple Choice Questions	True/False Questions	Short-Answer Questions	Q & A Game	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Game	Trivial Pursuit Game	Jeopardy Game	Minimum Palm OS Required	HiRes Graphics
QuizQuilt	300+	1	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	2.0	Yes
Quizzler	15,000+	1	Yes (up to 10 choices)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	3.0	No
Smarty Pants Trivia	3,000+	1-4	Yes (3 choices)	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	3.5	No
Triv	25,000+	1-4	Yes (4 choices)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	2.0	Yes
Trivia King	1,000's?	1-2	Yes (? choices)	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	3.0	No
Trivia Machine	7,000+	1-4	Yes (3 choices)	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	5.0	Yes, HiRes only
Trivia To Go	180+	1	Yes (4 choices)	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	3.5	No
Trivial Pursuit	1,600+	1-6	Yes (4 choices)	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	3.5?	Yes