Trivia buff Tom Hanks is bringing one of his passions to life with “Hanx 101 Trivia” — a new game set to debut exclusively on the Apple Arcade subscription service.
It’s the first game created by the Oscar-winning actor, producer and director, and the first trivia game coming to Apple Arcade. “Hanx 101 Trivia,” developed by independent game studio BlueLine Studios, lets players test their knowledge across a variety of categories and multiple game modes — to become the ultimate trivia master. The game launches on Friday, Sept. 2.
Hanks narrates the gameplay in “Hanx 101 Trivia,” which features an initial set of some 58,000 questions across a range of categories such as history, science, geography, food, art, business and technology. “Play, learn, compete and become a trivia master with ‘Hanx 101 Trivia,’ created and developed in partnership with actor and filmmaker Tom Hanks,” Apple said in announcing the game.
Apple Arcade subscribers can play the game on iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple TV devices. The game lets you play solo, or in competitive head-to-head mode. Players also can team up for competitive trivia showdowns.
Apple Arcade launched in September 2019. It now includes more than 200 titles, available without ads or any in-app purchases, for $4.99 per month (or $49.99 per year).
Hanks has worked with Apple before: In 2014, he launched Hanx Writer, an app emulating a manual typewriter (including sounding a “ding” at the end of a line), which briefly shot to the No. 1 spot for on the free iPad app chart. “I find it’s like music that spurs along the creative urge. Bang bang clack-clack-clack puckapuckapuckapucka,” Hanks tweeted at the time. The app is still available on the App Store (although it most recently was updated in 2017).