Trivia quiz game online: I took on Zabum!'s critter crew
A panda, a macaw host and three bots who answer way too fast. I won once, lost a couple and learned to fear the word NOT.
By Polarzinho ·
Hi, I'm Polarzinho, the panda mascot of Polar Games, and today I'm reviewing Zabum!, a trivia quiz game online made by my own studio. So yes, I'm biased. Knock 15% off my excitement. I'll back up the rest with screenshots.
Zabum! is a TV quiz show turned into a general knowledge quiz: stage lights, a cartoon crowd, a macaw host and seven critters, each one in charge of a category. I played everything in the browser, nothing to download. Three practice matches against bots, one online room with a suspiciously smart opponent, one Daily Challenge, and a few rounds with the game switched to English and Spanish to see how it reads.
My night in numbers: one tight win, one third place that felt like a loss, a Daily Challenge where I got 2 out of 7 (we'll get there) and one life lesson. When a question has a NOT in it, read the NOT.
What Zabum! is: a general knowledge quiz hosted by critters
Lara runs the show. She's a red macaw with a bow tie who sits in a panel on the right of the screen and narrates everything. Each category has its own critter. In English they are Tuca for Planet, Axó for Science, Jabu for History, Guará for Sports, Lento for Screens, Sabiá for Music and Capi for Our Land.
They all have catchphrases. Tuca says Been there!, Lento begs No spoilers, okay… and Capi goes All-American!, because in the English version Our Land is localized for you. Next to each critter on the menu there's a little crown with a 0 to 5 counter. After three matches I had 3/5 on Axó and a flat zero on Guará, which tells you everything about me and sports.
The questions are real general knowledge: state capitals, flags, movies, video games, folklore, high school chemistry. I mostly played in Portuguese, so heads up: every screenshot below shows the Portuguese version of the game. Same layout, different words.
How to play this trivia quiz game online
The first time you open it, the game asks for your language: Portuguese, English or Spanish. Then hit Practice with the critters to play against bots, or Play with the crowd for the online mode. In practice I faced Bia, Dudu and Nina, three bots with critter faces. A standard match has 10 rounds:
- The globe spins and whoever is in last place picks the category out of three options. In round 1 everyone has zero, so I got to pick.
- The question shows up with a 15-second timer. The faster you answer, the more points you get.
- You answer by clicking: A to D on multiple choice, True or False on the true-or-false ones, or dragging a slider on estimate questions.
- Once you've answered, there's a button to skip the wait instead of watching the bots think.
- The game reveals right or wrong, shows where each bot voted and flips a Did you know…? card with a fun fact. Then the scoreboard.
- Answer streaks heat up the stage. The last round is worth double.
PolarzinhoThree categories on the table and I took longer to choose than to answer. Classic panda staring at two equally good bamboo shoots.
The three question types
- Multiple choice: four options, one right answer. Most questions are like this.
- True or false: two big cards. Sounds easy. It isn't, because the game loves statements that sound true.
- Estimate: a slider with a number, like a year or a count, plus a button to lock it in. You don't need to nail it, you need to get close.
PolarzinhoThis one I knew by heart. I spent my cub years trading cards with the other pandas on the block.
My match diary against the critter crew
Match 1: the NOT I didn't read
First question of the night, Planet category, about types of clouds. I saw cirrus, cumulus, stratus and thought: I know these words, this is great. I clicked cumulus like a genius. The question was asking which one was NOT a cloud type. The big wrong-answer stamp landed on the screen, Bia walked away with 792 points and I sat there with zero and no dignity.
PolarzinhoThe NOT was yellow, underlined and wiggling. I still drove right past it. Frame this one for the documentary.
On the reveal, each bot's face sits on the option it picked, and they comment in little speech bubbles. I finished that match on a five-answer streak, which almost made up for the start. Almost.
Match 2: on fire, then round 7
This one started way too well. I got electrical wires, diamonds, the Library of Alexandria, the 10% brain myth and an Australian wind instrument. At three in a row Lara's panel says you're on fire. At five, the stage goes full rainbow. In round 6 I got the smallest country in the world and was leading with 5,035 points.
Then round 7 happened and I froze. I stared at the question, the clock ran out and no answer went in. Streak gone. Nina and Dudu passed me, and on the double-points finale I missed an internet acronym question that, I swear, I had already seen in the previous match. Final: third place with 7,009, behind Nina with 8,564 and Dudu with 7,445.
Match 3: five rounds and a soap-opera ending
The settings let you pick match length: 5, 10 or 15 rounds. I went with 5, because pandas have a bedtime too. I nailed a video game hero, an electric yellow mascot, the only mammal that truly flies and the inventor of basketball. Before the last question it was 3,914 for me and 3,656 for Nina. Way too close when the last one counts double.
PolarzinhoIt was basic school geography. My paws were still sweating. A question worth double gets to everyone.
Got it. Final score 6,128 against Nina's 5,786 and Bia's 5,498. Confetti everywhere and a big victory screen. Five out of five, best streak of 5, and I hit level 5.
PolarzinhoMy avatar doing star eyes on the podium sums up my whole night. I'm printing it and hanging it next to my baby picture.
Daily Challenge, missions and the sticker album
Daily Challenge: one shot only
The Daily Challenge isn't like practice: 7 questions, the same for everyone, one attempt only. No bots, just you on stage. I walked in cocky and walked out with 2 out of 7 and 1,774 points. I got a river and a rock band right and missed the rest. Turns out I know more about rock than rivers.
PolarzinhoThe game offers me a share button on my 2-out-of-7 day. That's not a feature, that's an ambush.
Still, it gave me 690 XP. The daily streak on the menu has seven flames, and the first one was already lit from practice. Afterwards the button reads Daily Challenge: done! and the game tells you a new one comes tomorrow.
Daily missions
Today's missions were: finish first in a match, get 12 questions right and get 6 in a row. Each one is worth 150 XP, and finishing all three unlocks a bonus sticker pack. The streak one came in match 2, the other two in match 3. Practice doesn't count toward the leaderboard, the game says so at the end of every match, but it does count for missions.
The critter album
There are 28 stickers, four per critter. The end-of-match screens kept handing me packs of 3. You tap the pack, flip the cards one by one and stick them in. I opened four and ended up with 12 of 28, including two gold ones and a jaw-drop sticker that matches the exact face I made during the Daily Challenge.
Tips to win at this general knowledge quiz
1. Hunt for the NOT first
Lots of questions are the which-of-these-is-NOT kind. The game even highlights the word, and I still fell for it in round 1. In the same match a sports question came in the same format and I fell for it again. Same hole, twice.
2. Speed matters, but a fast wrong answer is worth nothing
Answering early gets you more points, and the bots are quick. But a fast wrong answer scores zero, and so does running out the clock, which is exactly how I lost the lead in round 7. Spend two seconds reading rather than freezing until the timer hits zero.
3. In last place? Use your pick
Whoever is last picks the category out of the three the globe draws. If the match is going badly, that's your shot at steering it to your strong subject. I always dodge Sports and run to Screens and Science.
4. Protect your streak
The streak panel goes from get 3 in a row to on fire, and at five the whole stage turns rainbow. One wrong answer, or no answer, wipes it. When you're on fire, breathe and read slowly.
5. Save some brain for the last question
The final question counts double. In match 3 it decided everything: I was only 258 points ahead. Don't relax just because you're winning.
Online trivia with friends: the room where Grandpa Encyclopedia humbled me
The biggest button on the menu is Play with the crowd, and there's an Invite friends button too. You open a room, bring your friends and play live, and only online matches count toward the leaderboard.
I opened a room, sent the invite, and who shows up? A friend of a friend who goes by Grandpa Encyclopedia. The nickname was a warning label and I ignored it, obviously. For the first few rounds he locked in answers before I'd finished reading the question, while I sat there with a paw on my chin, pretending to think. A humiliation, with stage lights.
Then, since I was in last place, I got to pick the category, and I went straight for Screens, home turf of my couch years. I nailed three in a row and took a few rounds off him. I didn't win the room (I won't lie to you), but a panda treats a won round like fresh bamboo. Afterwards I peeked at the leaderboard from a safe distance, one paw over one eye.
I only played on a computer.
Who it's for, plus my small complaints
If you like a general knowledge quiz and TV game shows, this is for you. Some questions are very easy and some are properly hard, so it works as a family game.
Now the complaints, because an honest panda complains. The bots are fast and accurate: Nina scored 8,564 in a 10-round match, which can sting for beginners. The 15-second timer is fair but has zero mercy if you freeze. And I saw the same question show up in two matches in a row. On the bright side, the second time I had no excuse.
Quick questions about Zabum!
Do I need to download anything?
No. Zabum! runs in your browser. I played it on a computer.
How many categories are there?
Seven: Planet, Science, History, Sports, Screens, Music and Our Land, each hosted by a critter.
Is it available in English?
Yes. You can pick English, Portuguese or Spanish, and switch in the settings. The questions change language too. One I got in English was Which planet is closest to the Sun? Easy points, take them.
Zabum! pros and cons
Ready for the stage?
My final tally: one win by 342 points, one third place and a 2 out of 7 Daily Challenge I'll carry to my grave. Open Zabum! here on Polar Games, play a practice match with no download and tell me if you also fell for the cloud NOT. There's a new Daily Challenge tomorrow, and I'll be there with my headphones and a bamboo snack.