The Impossible Quiz was packed with trick questions

When I was young, computer lab was my favourite class. This is exactly what you would expect. Between typing and Microsoft Word training, we were able to play flash games.

Flash was the heart of many of our favourite games. PoptropicaYou can find more information here Club PenguinAnd Webkinz. Because we had spent too much time browsing them, the websites hosting these were eventually banned from school computers. We switched to Flash compilation sites like Cool Math Games. Fireboy, Watergirl, and many other class favourites were there. Crazy Taxi. What really caught our attention though was The Impossible Quiz.

The Impossible QuizIt consisted 110 questions. What made it “impossible” was that the questions were obtuse and riddle-like. For example, the second question was “Can a match box?” It’s a multiple choice question with the answers “Yes,” “No,” “Yes, one beat Mike Tyson,” and the correct answer, “No, but a tin can.” If you got an answer wrong, a loud bomb sound played and the game took away one of your three lives. Some points could allow you to earn arrows which allowed you skip certain questions. You could also make a lot of funny poop jokes throughout the game, which made it a great choice for your growing edgy mind.

Looking back, it’s clear to me that this was the first “rage” game I had ever encountered. Quizzes were supposed to be logic and provide clear answers. However, The Impossible QuizEach quiz used its own method of reasoning. This quiz was deliberately antagonistic for the player. Bennett Foddy on How to Get Over ItOr Unfair Mario, This is the sort of thing YouTubers would be compelled to shout at their children. The 10 minute time limit would not have allowed for any child to surpass it. It’s not impossible, but it is possible. This wasPossible was the cooperation of several children over many years.

Image: Glenn Rhodes

This was quite a common phenomenon in my class. It was possible to have eight children playing at once on different computers. The Impossible QuizYoung minds working hard. It was always a race to be the fastest. Although this made us competitive it created strange team collaborations. The questions were confusing and we had to remember as many answers as possible. We learned how to solve riddles by watching our fellow players and then practiced remembering them. Playing was something I can remember. The Impossible QuizAs another boy coached me, he told me where to place my skip arrows and when I should use them strategically. (Spoiler alert: We would be in trouble later when we needed to use all seven skips for the final question.

You can’t lose. The Impossible QuizYou had to remember the answers to 110 Flash games riddles. It was an extremely difficult task even for a group of 9-year-olds. I don’t exaggerate when I say it took years before a few of us were able to beat it.

I went back to The Impossible QuizTo see the results of the game against my memory as an adult. I made it to level 46. I was pleased that some of the earlier-game solutions were still within my reach. I suppose all that memorization wasn’t for nothing. There’s something satisfying about that work paying off. That is, until you hit an answer you don’t know, but that just means you need to memorize that failure for the future. It’s almost like playing a roguelike in that my main skill was the unrepentant need to keep trying. This sentiment must have been shared by many others in my class, otherwise we wouldn’t have made it this far.

Even though each of us were working individually, the computer lab provided a special environment which encouraged collaboration. It would have taken me too long to get there. The Impossible Quiz if I hadn’t had other people in my lab — both to compete against and to work with. Perhaps the computer lab could change how we interact and play with each other. Flash games are fun and kids love poop jokes.

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