Let me start by saying I have absolutely no interest in Swiss history or culture. Yet I’ve wasted quite a bit of my time answering Swiss trivia cards on the iPhone game Helvetiq. Designed by Jilion, the guys behind the stunning HTML5 video player, Helvetiq brings aboard those same juicy buttons and controls you see on Jilion’s website and other projects.
Every facet of the game is beautifully painted. Jilion’s designs thrive in colour, and Helvetiq just brings out the most vibrant reds, purples combined with some pastel greens and yellows. The Jilion team has done a fantastic job in deliciousifying everything from the start screen, to the subtle sound effects, to the gentle flashing of ‘Correct!’, making this app worth spending time with.
That said, since I was wasting my time anyway, it would have been nice to have learnt something about Switzerland, but the way it’s designed makes it hard to keep up with. After you answer the question out of guesswork, the answer card is presented with the same question in reverse. While this technique would be excellent for someone studying for a Swiss immigration exam, it’s not very effective for a casual approach. You also hardly repeat questions since there aren’t any stages to complete (just ten random questions after which you get your scorecard), so the trivia doesn’t get drilled into your brain. That, coupled with the time constraints means I still don’t know much about Switzerland other than they make cheese and army knives.
The app is free, definitely lickable, but I’m not sure how far it will take you in learning about Switzerland.
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Switzerland was founded on the 1. of August in 1291. Our precious country has about 7 Billion citizen and is about 82 times smaller than india. It features clear, deep blue lakes and green forests in the summer and white mountains in winter.
Switzerland has no King and not one President but seven Presidents. They are called “The Federal Council” and are based in the Swiss Capital-City “Bern”. One of them living just a few meters away from my parents home. Thanks to a direct democracy, the Swiss People has the right to vote and to create new laws by means of submitting a constitutional initiative.
Despite the small footprint, Switzerland has 4 official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh, most of them speaking German. Switzerland is in the heart of Europe and still had the blessing of not being involved in any of the two World Wars.
Since Switzerland has no significant amounts of natural resources it’s wealth relays heavily on strong industry, design and technology sectors. “Made in Switzerland” therefor primarily stands for quality.
The swiss flag is one of two only flags worldwide that is a perfect square, rather than an rectangle. Inverted is the flag of the international Red Cross Movement.
If you wan’t to know more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Switzerland&w=all
Ps. We do delicious chocolate too ;)
Aah, Switzerland. The #2 place on my ‘Do visit before you die’ list. I hear there’s some “Magic” in the chocolate made there. No, seriously, I’d love to move to Switzerland.
Also, the reason the country is probably so well known around here is for the Bollywood’s overuse of ‘Swiss bank accounts” terminology.
@Elean: Thanks a bunch for that!
@Milind Alvares, beautiful Pictures you have there on flickr! Nice!
Milind, thanks for the review!
Just wanted to point out Helvetiq is actually “meant” for Swiss people (questions can be really difficult for non-Swiss citizens).
The app is actually based on a physical board/card game that people can buy in Switzerland, and the principle of the “reverse question” on the back-side of the card is a key concept of the original board game.
You can spot the real cards of the game in this photo:
http://jilion.com/media/images/helvetiq_iphone_app.jpg
@Jilion: Oh my. Well I’ve had a hearty time playing it anyway. Poor scores don’t deter me. :)