UW student creates Quarantrivia, a game addressing COVID-19 misinformation

Online game dispelling COVID-19 myths From CTV Kitchener's Stephanie Villella: The UW student behind Quarantrivia hopes to share good information while also entertaining.

KITCHENER — A University of Waterloo student waned to dispel the many misconceptions about COVID-19, so she created a trivia game to help people understand the virus.

“The game is called Quarantrivia,” says Ridhi Patel. “It’s a play on the words for quarantine and trivia, bringing the two together.”

Patel says she was seeing a lot of misinformation about COVID-19 when the lockdown started back in March.

“That really concerned me, that if people do follow some of that wrong advice, it can really put somebody else’s life in danger.”

So Patel, who is a third-year Bachelor of Science student, started gathering information from the World Health Organization and Canadian Public Health Agencies.

She then turned that medical advice into a game, with the support of biology professor Jozef Nissimov.

“As a scientist, I have been quite frustrated with the sheer volume of misinformation online, as well as misinformation being spread by certain world leaders,” he says. “I found the approach Ridhi was taking with the trivia game extremely innovative and unique.”

In Quarantrivia, players take on the role of Doctor Pixel who has to answer a series of questions about COVIV-19 to save the Pixel World from a global pandemic.

“It makes the whole learning experience fun,” says Patel. “You can find all the information you need, feel responsible for it, and also enjoy it.”

If a player answers incorrectly, they’re given the right information and a link to a reputable website.

“The information is distilled in a digestible manner,” says Nissimov. “It’s focused on the most important factual messages regarding this pandemic.”

He worries that the wrong information about COVID-19 could put people’s lives at risk.

“Some of the most dangerous and worrying misconceptions are that the virus is man-made,” he says.

Since launching two months ago, about 500 people from around the world have played the game.

“Even if it’s just a handful of people taking away one or two facts from the game, that can also make a difference in somebody else’s life right now,” Patel says.

You can play the game here.