Review: Swag IQ

Attribution: Swagbucks and Prodege LLC

Think you’re smart? Think you might be able to use your knowledge to make a few bucks? Then perhaps Swag IQ is something you should consider. I’m not going to go over every aspect of this app, but I want to touch on a few things that might not be readily apparent to a new or even seasoned Swag IQ user.

What is Swag IQ?

Swag IQ is a quiz app that lets you test your trivia knowledge for a chance to win a lot of SB. Generally, the prize is $1,000 (“in the form of SB”), but this amount is a little deceptive. I’ll explain why later in this blog post.

Quiz Format

The quiz show is live and generally starts at 8pm EST, except on Friday and Saturday nights, when there is no trivia show. However, this is sometimes subject change. For example, sometimes there’s a “flash” show either before or after the regularly scheduled show.

If you show up late, you can still play and win SB for the questions you get right, but you’ll be ineligible for the grand prize and won’t have a chance to get SB for the questions you missed due to your tardiness. It also doesn’t cost anything to participate, as long as you don’t rejoin when you get a question wrong.

The show begins with a short intro by the host, who makes a few bad jokes and explains the basic rules. After a few minutes, the first question is given. Users have 10 seconds to answer. If you run out of time, you’ll get the question wrong by default. There are 10 total questions.

For most participants, you can get up to one question wrong and still be eligible for the grand prize. When you get a question wrong, you will have a chance to buy back in with SB. How many SB it takes will depend on when you buy back in. If you get an early question wrong, it’ll usually cost fewer SB than if you get a later question wrong. But if you’re getting the first or second question wrong, it’s safe to say you’re probably not going to win the grand prize, even if you could rejoin 5 times in a single game.

If you decide not to buy back in, or you get a second question wrong after rejoining, you will be barred from the grand prize, but can still continue playing to win SB for the remaining questions you get correct.

You can also earn free rejoins when you refer a new Swagbucks user to the trivia game. And not only do you get a free rejoin for the new member, but you get 10% of their Swagbucks earnings, including what they make from Swag IQ.

In my experience, most games end within 15 minutes or so. It didn’t use to be this way. When I first started playing (my first game was the second Swag IQ game ever, I think), it took a lot longer because the host didn’t know how to stop talking. Now, the hosts are much faster to move on between questions which is a most welcome change.

How Much Can You Win?

It depends on several factors. First, the $1,000 pot (it’s sometimes larger) is split up evenly (or as close as possible without awarding fractional SB points) among the winners. So if there is one winner, they’ll get $1,000 in SB. But if there are 10 winners, each winner will only get $100 in SB. So if there is an easy quiz, there will be more winners, with each winner taking home less SB. One thing I’m always wondering about is if every winner is a real person or a bot. If even a single “winner” is a fake account or bot, that reduces what the real winners will actually receive.

Second, you can win SB for getting certain questions right, even if you aren’t eligible for the grand prize. Assuming you get a few of these and don’t buy back in you, can complete a Swag IQ game with a positive gain in SB. I typically finish with around 5-12 SB for the few questions I got right. Keep in mind that you have to finish the entire quiz show to claim your SB. If you leave before it officially ends, you’ll never see the popup box that allows you to claim your SB.

Third, the pot can get bigger throughout the game as more people decide to spend their SB and rejoin.

Helpful Tips

- You can get rid of that annoying chat box by simply swiping it to the side at any time.

- If you have a family member or friend who plays Swag IQ, have them play along with you. If you don’t know the answer to a question, they might (and vice versa). If neither of you know the answer, you can make sure you each put different answers to increase the likelihood that at least one of you will get the question right.

- If you buy back in to rejoin, unless you win the grand prize, you will almost always come out of a Swag IQ game with a net SB loss.

- Even though you have 10 seconds to answer, pretend you have 8. Due to network issues your response may be recorded as late, and therefore wrong.

Conclusion

Swag IQ isn’t the first app of its type, so there are other options out there to try if you like trivia games. I haven’t tried those so I can’t say how Swag IQ stacks up to them. But I like this app and when I’m with my Swagbuck phone around 8pm EST and I’m not busy, I’ll almost always play the game. However, I don’t enjoy the app enough to set my evening schedule around the game.