At 3 p.m. each day, most students know exactly what notification will pop up on their phones: it’s HQ time! People will drop everything they are doing in order to play this trending trivia game.

1 million people play this live trivia game, who answer a series of 12 questions with each question getting increasingly harder. At 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. each day, players compete to answer all questions correctly and win the cash prize which ranges from $1,000 to $50,000 and is ultimately split between all the winners.

Freshman Tess Mendelson, who began playing the game before it became so popular, thinks the reason HQ is successful and has grown so quickly is due to its appeal to all people and ages.

“I think people continue to play because it’s something everyone does together,” Mendelson said. “It’s really cool because other media apps make it feel like everyone is very divided, but HQ is more like you are together more.”

Many people like HQ  because it is a high-tech version of classic trivia challenges, like Jeopardy. English teacher Gabrielle Plastrik was introduced to HQ by her hipster brother and plays occasionally.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of the questions they are asking about are related to current events or pop culture events that are recent, so even though there might be a question that seems totally random, the questions are somehow tied into things on the news or in shows that are on,” Plastrik said.

Plastrik has been able to incorporate HQ into her classes by creating a script including that weeks class announcements and then her sixth-grade students create a video of themselves reading the script in an HQ-style trivia game for the other students to view and learn.

Mendelson also agrees that this could benefit the classroom because of how players remember facts they hear while playing the game.

However, freshman Emma Nitkin does not like HQ. Although it presents an educational opportunity, she does not feel like teens use it for that purpose. Just like other social media outlets, Nitkin thinks HQ just serves as an extra outlet of distraction. She also questions whether spending a lot of time on the game is ultimately worth it.

“I feel like the game is kind of a waste of time because the chances of you actually winning something is very slim,” Nitkin said.

But it’s not just the chance of winning cash that draws people to HQ; game host Scott Rogowsky entertains players through his tacky jokes and catchphrases like referring to himself as the “Quiz Daddy.” Rogowsky is so popular that he was chosen to be on of the featured speakers at the B’nai Brith Youth Organization’s international convention in Miami this February. Mendelson was one of 5,000 Jewish teens and advisors who heard the HQ host speak about his career and Judaism.

“He spoke to everyone about being Jewish as a comedian and gave examples of really famous comedians who felt ashamed to be Jewish and changed their names because of that and how he never changed his name because he was proud to be Jewish …” Mendelson said.  “I think a lot of people say that he’s annoying on the show, but in person, he’s actually really funny.,”

Mendelson thinks HQ is beneficial for students to play but still worries that it is contributing to a very technology-based society.

“Our society is about to become a world where everything can happen in the click of a button … this game can sort of take away from human connection and slowly is turning everyone into constantly being on their phone and computer. I’m just scared for that,” Mendelson said.