The short version: open trivolivia, choose a mode, answer five questions, and use the explanation and source links to learn the story behind each answer.
1. Choose a way to play
- Daily Five: five standalone knowledge questions connected to verified current headlines. The headline connection appears after the answer.
- Week in 20: a resumable 20-question round built from four recent verified Daily editions.
- Hidden Thread: answer five questions, make your own connection, and then reveal the curated thread and question-by-question links.
- Topic Sprint: choose a subject from the reviewed general-audience catalog and a difficulty. Unsupported input is rejected on the device; Wikimedia titles, introductions, and category labels are screened before a focused five-question round is cached or shown.
- Adaptive Trail: play questions selected from your recent answers and interests.
- Endless Mix: continue through varied subjects in consecutive five-question rounds.
- Library: browse 200 built-in questions organized into 20 source-backed topics.
- Memory Review: return to missed questions when they are scheduled for review.
2. Answer the round
Each round uses multiple-choice questions. Pick the answer you think is right; trivolivia immediately shows the correct answer instead of making you wait until the end. Most modes use five questions; Week in 20 uses 20 and can be resumed.
The built-in Library ranges across science, history, arts, literature, geography, technology, mathematics, food, music, film, and game design. See the full list of trivia topics and sample questions.
3. Read the explanation and check the sources
Every answer includes a concise explanation and two supporting links. Open either source when you want more context or want to verify the claim yourself. Source links lead to organizations such as NASA, museums, universities, scientific societies, and reference publishers.
4. Continue, review, or stop
At the end of five questions, start another round, follow a related topic, or stop. Questions you miss can return in Memory Review after increasing intervals, helping you revisit an idea without turning the game into homework.
5. Read your Knowledge DNA
Knowledge DNA is based only on answers retained on this device. After 20 unique questions, it summarizes evidence across five broad knowledge worlds. A world needs at least five answers before it can qualify for a personal category crown, and the profile always shows sample sizes so a small streak is not presented as a permanent trait.
Clearing Knowledge DNA removes that derived profile and records a local reset boundary. Saved quest and Daily history remains available, but those older answers do not rebuild the profile; only answers given after the reset begin a new Knowledge DNA.
“Before It Was News” may show that you explored the same broad knowledge world before it appeared in a current Daily edition. It does not claim that you predicted an event or previously answered the same fact.
6. Share a real interaction
After a verified Daily Five, you can create a spoiler-safe challenge for the whole round or one question. The recipient plays the exact immutable edition before seeing the side-by-side result. Challenge links stop opening the challenge after 14 days.
You can also create or join a private Braintrust of up to 12 people. Braintrust members build a shared streak and can see weekly standings, category crowns, and Olivia’s recap based on the group’s actual answers. Keep the invite link private: its secret token can be used to request membership for seven days unless the owner replaces it, ownership transfers and rotates it, or the group closes. A full group rejects another member, but an unexpired invite can work again if a seat opens.
Channels are shareable category mixes. Official and player-created channels select from reviewed trivolivia cards; players choose a public name, description, and one to four categories, but do not publish arbitrary question text. “Read the Room” becomes available only after you submit that exact Daily edition and at least 10 verified pseudonymous submissions exist. It shows anonymous answer-choice percentages rounded to five-point buckets.
Do I need an account?
No. The game starts without signup, and current sessions, complete answer history, interests, Knowledge DNA, and review schedules stay on your device. Optional social features create a random pseudonymous identity without an email address or password and submit only the limited data described in the Privacy Policy.
Is trivolivia free?
Yes. You can play trivolivia free in your browser, without ads. The official trivolivia iPhone app is also available through Apple’s App Store.
Where is progress stored?
On the web, learning progress is stored in your browser; native apps use on-device app storage. Clearing site data or uninstalling can erase it. If you enable social features, a secret social credential is held in platform-protected storage on native apps or origin-scoped encrypted browser storage on the web, while verified Daily results and social records are stored by the optional service. Learning data and social data have separate deletion controls. trivolivia does not add behavioral analytics or advertising trackers.