FunTrivia Duel FAQ

• How does the game work?
• How do I know if I have won a game?
• How are players matched up?
• Where is the cumulative leader board?
• What happens if I tie with someone?
• How do reload penalties work?
• Can I hide my awful scores from view?

FunTrivia Duel FAQ

Welcome to FunTrivia Duel!

We consider this game our "competitive non-competitive game", a game where you will constantly have a steady stream of mini-victories and mini-defeats, and work your way up a series of levels (or "Steps" in this game) at your own pace.

It is competitive in that each time you play a game, you will match-up against another player, and whoever has the highest score wins and gains an advancement point.

It is non-competitive in that in the long run we keep no cumulative scoreboards, and there is no race in play here. You are encouraged to play at your own pace, find players with scores near you who you'd like to overtake, and discover what you are best at.

Each day we display 15 new topics that can be played. Regular members may play 5 of these each day, while Gold Members may play all 15. If you enjoy this game and others on the FunTrivia website, we encourage you to become a gold member.

At the bottom of the main "FunTrivia Duel" screen is a listing of all games you have played, and the status of each game.

When you finish playing a game, there is a chance that you instantly match up with another player who is already awaiting a match up. If this is the case, you will immediately see the result at the bottom of the main FunTrivia Duel screen.

If the system cannot find you another player who needs a match-up, the system will wait until another player plays and matches up to you. Simply check back later throughout the day to see if you have won or lost!

If by midnight no one has matched up to you, you will be matched up by our fictional Bot player, who scores an average-to-above-average score on its games.

The goal of our match-up system is to ensure that all players have a reasonable chance to play against players of similar skill level.

We do not want new players constantly getting stomped by experienced players, or experienced players getting bored because there's no challenge.

In determining an opponent for each game, our system takes into consideration how well you perform in all of your FunTrivia duel games and then throws in a random element. In addition, you will only match up against any one player once a day. This ensures that you will have a nice variety of opponents each day.

If you tend to score poorly on average, you will tend to match up against players who also tend to score poorly on average. If you tend to score very well, you will tend to match up with players who tend to score very well. If you're in the middle somewhere, you will match up with pretty much everyone at some time or another.

It is our goal that in any niche category, the player with the most knowledge of that niche should win pretty much every time.

The system is also dynamic in that it adjusts your future match-ups as your scores improve or get worse.

Note that occasionally you will match up against players far better or far worse than you. It's just that the probability is higher that you will match up against someone of similar skill level.

FunTrivia levels, total points, badge counts, etc have no bearing on match-ups. All skill based considerations are based on how you perform in this game only.

There is no cumulative leader board for this game.

We decided to try something a little different for this game. Pretty much all games on FunTrivia have a cumulative leader board of some sort.

We thought that perhaps it was time to create a game where you don't have to compare yourself to the leaders because you CAN"T compare yourself to leaders. Yes, you will be able to see players ahead of you advancing up "steps", and you will have an idea of where you are in the great scheme of things, but specific win totals, etc just don't matter in this game.

This game is all about those little victories... the here and now. This is about winning a "Harry Potter" quiz and feeling good about it. Or putting those years at culinary school to work and beating someone else at a cooking quiz.

Take your time and enjoy the scenery. The journey is often better than the destination!

Neither player is credited with the win and no one gets the advancement point. However, both players will win a "All Tied Up" mini-badge!

When you click a topic link from the main "FunTrivia Duel" page, you must play the game through - now - in its entirety.

If you click "backwards" on your browser, you will incur a penalty (half score), even if you have never clicked the "Start" button on that page.

In other words, if you intend on playing a topic, do not click its topic link from the main FunTrivia Duel page until you are good and ready to play it through completion!

NOTE: You may at any time change your mind and choose NOT to play a game by hitting the back button on your browser, or closing the window once you start it. As long as you don't later come back today and try submit results for that particular topic again, it won't count at all as being played.

In general, scores can be seen by everyone.

However, if you score particularly poorly -- lower than 250 -- in a game, you will get an option to "hide" your score on the main Duel page.

This is optional. If you find your score embarrassing and want it out of sight of all players except your opponent, simply click on the "hide" link to hide it from view.

If you scored high and have "hidden" next to your game, it means that your opponent clicked "hide" and this game is now out of public view.

In general though, don't worry about low scores. Almost everyone has topics that they know absolutely nothing about. Don't be afraid of playing games you don't know much about. You never know... perhaps your opponent will know even less!