Chain Reaction#
A quiz where you write every question yourself: the text, images, answer options and difficulty. Participants climb a ladder from easy questions to brain-benders, and the stakes rise with every step. A right answer moves them up; a wrong one ends the run, but the points up to the last checkpoint they passed are theirs to keep. So every step is a small decision: burn a lifeline, answer fast for the bonus, or take the time to think. The closer the top gets, the harder it is to stop.
Quick facts#
- Genre: quiz
- Skills: knowledge, reaction (fast answers earn a bonus), strategy (when to spend lifelines)
- Run length: 2-5 minutes, 10 questions of 30 seconds each by default
- Entry barrier: low - four options, one right answer, no fast fingers needed
- Players compete on: points for correct answers; ties are broken by the number of correct answers, then by time
Who it suits#
- Niche communities. The content is entirely yours, so the game tests exactly what your audience knows: local history, game rules, recipes, professional jargon.
- Contests on your product or channel. Questions about your products, events or past posts turn a giveaway into a reason to read you closely.
- Best-score tournaments. The winner isn't whoever showed up first, but whoever answered better and faster.
- Audiences with no gaming experience. What matters is knowing the answer, not hitting targets on screen, so people of any age can play.
How participants play#
| Action | Method |
|---|---|
| Answer | Tap one of the four options |
| Use a lifeline | Tap the lifeline button, each one works once per run |
- The participant launches the game from the activity and gets the first question.
- Each question has a time limit: 30 seconds by default, or you can pick 15 or 60 seconds or turn the limit off.
- Answers are checked by the server - until it responds, the game neither knows nor reveals which option is correct.
- On preset checkpoint steps the result is locked in (after the 3rd and 7th question by default). If the participant fails later, they keep the score from the last checkpoint they passed.
- By default the first mistake ends the run. In the settings you can allow up to 10 mistakes.
What you fill in#
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Question text | Up to 160 characters, or up to 110 if the question has an image |
| Image | Optional. A diagram, map, photo or screenshot. Always shown in full, never cropped |
| Four options | Exactly four, up to 400 characters each. Short options are easier to read on a phone |
| Correct option | One of the four |
| Difficulty | From 1 to 5. Determines which step the question appears on and how many points it is worth |
| Category | Optional topic of the question, up to 24 characters |
| Explanation | Optional text of up to 240 characters shown to the participant after answering |
You need noticeably more questions than there are steps in a run: at least two questions on every difficulty level you use. Otherwise every participant gets the same ladder.
Why tipping off a friend won't work#
The order of the answer options is shuffled separately for every participant and reshuffled on every attempt. Your "1380" may be third while the same option is first for someone else in the chat. Agreeing to "just tap the second button" is impossible.
The questions themselves are also picked at random within their difficulty level, so different participants get different ladders.
Lifelines#
Each lifeline can be used once per run. You choose which ones are on: 50:50, Ask the audience and Skip are enabled by default, and Swap can be added.
| Lifeline | Effect |
|---|---|
| 50:50 | Removes two wrong options. Points for that question are multiplied by 0.6 |
| Ask the audience | Shows how other participants answered this question. While there are few answers, the distribution is marked as an estimate. Points for that question are multiplied by 0.8 |
| Skip | Skips the question with no penalty, but with no points either |
| Swap | Replaces the question with another one of the same difficulty |
Taking a break#
A participant can return to an unfinished run - it is stored on the server. However, the timer on the current question keeps running while they are away. If the time runs out, the question counts as unanswered and the game continues with the next one.
This is deliberate: otherwise closing the tab on a hard question, looking the answer up and coming back would be enough.
For activities with poor mobile coverage there is a concession - "grace period after a break". Enable it in the game settings, and a participant who returns within the configured window gets the current question again with a full timer. It works once per run and only on returning: an ordinary answer sent after the time has run out gets no grace.
Scoring and bonuses#
A correct answer is worth 100 points per difficulty level: a difficulty 1 question gives 100, difficulty 5 gives 500. On top of that comes a speed bonus of up to +50%: the more time left on the timer, the bigger it is. With the time limit turned off there is no speed bonus.
The 50:50 and Ask the audience lifelines reduce the points for the question they were used on, and if both are used, the multipliers stack. Wrong answers and skips earn nothing.
Who wins#
Participants are compared by score, then by number of correct answers, then by the total time spent answering.
Time between questions, reading explanations and breaks are not counted - only the answering time itself, so a slow connection doesn't ruin the result.
Instead of a race for first place you can set a threshold: everyone who reaches the required score enters the prize draw.
Goal parameters#
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
minScore |
number | Minimum score required for the attempt to count |
The score comes from the server-side quiz session; the game never submits points itself.
