The Definitive Queen Quiz App...COMING SOON!
- for smart-phones and tablets...
I thought you might like to know about an unusual and very exciting Queen project that's consumed me this past half year. I think it's the definitive Queen quiz game and it's certainly the most sophisticated and elaborate App I've seen in this genre - for ANY band! It's official and fully authorised by the band.
It's called 'Queen: Play The Game' and it was developed by UK-based Soshi Games, with us throwing in ideas at every juncture. It's an impressive interactive experience featuring Queen music, photographs, images of albums and singles, etc, which will draw you in, amuse and frustrate you in equal measure. It's very addictive too, once you get into it.
I'm not usually much of a game-player, so I was stunned at what is achievable on screen now; the quality and clarity of images, vivid colourful graphics and text, the diversity of screens, and the multiple Queen themed presentations throughout – all of which change and evolve from one section to the next. The graphics are startling, the music is crisp and clear and the questions are fun and informative. After spending much time thinking up questions, honing them, and linking them to specific music and images, finally this week we had the Final version to test. It looks and sounds amazing and I have found myself completely immersed in it.
Apologies in advance for some of the deliberately misleading questions, but if you truly know your stuff, you'll be fine. You just have to read each question very carefully, or else risk launching your smart phone or tablet across the room in frustration! The game will work on Android and iOS phones and tablets.
'Play The Game' takes in all the familiar Queen imagery, as well as a lot you may not have encountered before. I submitted 1,400 questions to Soshi, as well as a mass of imagery, and they've presented the best of it in an inventive logical fun way – and often in contexts you won’t expect. I genuinely hope you will be as surprised by this, as I was. A lot of thought has gone into this, literally on all levels, in appropriately pedantic detail, so that it encompasses every aspect of Queen and its history, and so that it looks and feels right. I believe we've covered it ALL, and we've posed the questions in a variety of ways. Some are easy, some are medium-hard, others are infuriatingly difficult – but rest assured all of them have been thought about! This is for experts on Queen as well newcomers, and everyone else in between. This game will test your knowledge on every aspect of Queen, and will seek out your weaknesses! Play it at home, or on holiday, or while traveling to work on the train each morning. It's great for insomniacs too!
So... by way of a sample... you know who wrote 'Brighton Rock', and which album it's on, and when that album was released, and probably who produced it. But... does your knowledge cover the REALLY detailed points? Do you know which member of Queen has both eyes shown on The Miracle album cover? Or in which songs Captain Scott, Jimi Hendrix and Clint Eastwood are mentioned? Where was Under Pressure performed live for the very first time? In which song did Queen see God and Dali? What's the shortest track on Queen II? Who supported Queen at Hyde Park in '76?
Also... if, for example, you manage to answer all 10 'Easy level' questions on 'The Albums' correctly, you'll see a lovely 'Kind Of Magic' themed animation appear - which is one of many such touches. And if you do on the same on 'Expert level', you'll instead see the News Of The World robot congratulating you in an unusual way. All good fun, all nicely thought about and presented, and all with you the fans in mind.
The game will launch with 900 questions spanning three difficulty levels, mostly with multiple choice answers, with further packs to follow - for those who want more questions on song lyrics, the Live Killers tour, promo videos, or the solo work. 'Play The Game' also includes puzzle pictures (of various sizes) and word searches, again in varying difficulty levels (some of which are ludicrously hard; where you're expected to find words related to 'Spread Your Wings' or 'Flick Of The Wrist', but you're not given a list of the words you're searching for!)
I'm really not an Apps person, as I say, but I think this is a very nicely presented and enjoyable experience. And so it should be, after the 9 million hours we've collectively put into it! It's vastly better than I ever imagined it could be when we began this project and it will seriously test the knowledge of all Queen fans. Beware, though, we've put in a good few trick questions to trip you up.
I'm genuinely interested to see what you all make of it. It's going to be available very soon. Watch this space, we'll keep you informed. In the meantime, you can get an idea of how it looks, here....http://bit.ly/QueenGameEarlyBird. You can register to be one of the first to know when it goes live, and you'll get the chance to win competitions for merchandise.
Soshi's strap-line for this game (I think I'm right in saying) is along the lines of... 'It's so easy, when you know the rules, all you have to do is Play The Game!' But don't believe this. It's not true. It's emphatically NOT easy. Some of these questions are harder than graphite!
I genuinely hope you like it, and that you learn much about Queen in a fun and entertaining way. I foresee some very late nights ahead!
GB
GB: Queen Archivist