Attention Toronto-area trivia buffs!

Thanks to an opportune run-in I had during a date back in April, I’m now working as a programmer at a little start-up called Silvercloud Entertainment. Silvercloud makes one thing and one thing only: online trivia games. The first one is called “Are You Smart Enough”, and we’re currently beta-testing it.

Two games are scheduled each day: one at 12:00 noon and one at 8:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time). You play against other people, answering multiple choice trivia questions. If you answer wrong, you’re out of the game. The last person remaining (or the last people remaining at the ned of 25 questions) wins the prize!

The questions are written by Ken Fisher, who’s written a boatload of trivia books, has a syndicated trivia quiz in newspapers across the U.S. and Canada, and wrote questions for TV’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The game’s database of questions is pretty sizeable, and once we use a question, we never use it again.

You have twenty seconds to choose an answer, and you can change your mind as long as some of those twenty seconds remains. In order to give people a better shot at lasting longer in the game, you have two “save me’s” at your disposal. If you don’t know the answer, you can use a “save me”; it’ll be as if you answered the question correctly. Since this is an online game, you can use any online resources to help you find the answer…if you can do it in the twenty allotted seconds, that is. You can also use your favourite instant messaging client to trash-talk your friends if they’re playing against you.

The beta test game is free, and the last person standing wins 2 free Cineplex Odeon movie passes. The real game, expected to go online later this summer, will cost $5 and the last person standing will win $1,000.

What you’ll need

You’ll need the following to play the game:

• A Windows machine (I know, I know). It should run WIndows 98 or later.
• DirectX 8.1. If you’ve installed some recent games or are running Windows XP, you might already have it.
• The client. You can download it by going here.
• A modicum of trivia knowledge.

If you’re in the Toronto area and are near a computer around noon or 8 pm, give the game a whirl and help keep your ‘umble accordion playing buddy employed.