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Comedian Samantha Bee launches trivia game with election twist

It's like HQ Trivia with a focus on politics.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.
Marrian Zhou
2 min read
"Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" FYC Event Los Angeles

Samantha Bee, the executive producer and host of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, launched a trivia app in hopes of getting you engaged in the upcoming election.

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Samantha Bee thinks trivia might help get people interested in the midterm elections.

The comedian and host of popular late night show Full Frontal said at an event in Manhattan on Wednesday that she and her team created a trivia app to prompt more people to vote during the midterm elections coming up in November.

"From the last elections (2016), we realized how critical it is for people to vote … [We found that] only 52 percent of the people watching our show are registered to vote," said Bee at the app's preview event. "So we thought what we can do to get people to do something … [The app] is dumb and fun and you can win money and accidentally learn something."

"This Is Not A Game: The Game" is a free trivia app focused on political topics. Like popular trivia game HQ Trivia, winners will split a daily cash prize set at $5,000. Participants can expect multiple choice questions that will be nonpartisan, according to Bee, like "Which character did New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon play on Sex and the City?" and "If politicians were literally spineless, they'd have none of these tiny bones in the spinal column."

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Samantha Bee's trivia app This Is Not A Game: The Game. 

Screenshot by Marrian Zhou/CNET

The app also has challenges that you can complete to win rewards, such as "Are you registered to vote?" or "Where is your polling station?" You will be required to show proof that you're registered to vote in order to get the rewards.

Bee will launch the game during her upcoming show on Wednesday. But the app is already available on App Store to download.  

"It's something we've been working on over a year," said Bee. "It's a grand experiment."