You're curled up in an armchair watching a quiz show on television, cold drink and snack in hand. Until the contestant starts answering the questions.

"Idiot," you shout. "The answer is B, not A. Horatio works in Miami, not New York."

By the end of the show you decide to apply to become a contestant. If given the chance, you could show everyone what you know.

But your invitation never arrives. If you think you are doomed to answering trivia questions only from your easy chair, without winning any prizes, think again. The next big interactive trend could be right up your alley.
 
Skill-based games are a growing phenomenon in the online computer game industry. Everyone can participate in trivia games that also offer cash prizes via designated Web sites. Unlike the gambling games, which are based on luck, the winner in skill-based games is determined by his knowledge and talent, and plays against others. The trivia contest is the main kind of game in this area, a relatively new phenomenon that began about seven years ago and is gaining momentum.

According to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), about 12 companies defined as developers of skill-based games raked in about $100 million in 2005, and this is expected to grow by 25 to 35 percent annually. According to IGDA's estimates, in 2009 people will pay over $1 billion to participate in skill-based game tournaments.

A few private companies control the lion's share of the market, and one of the leading companies is Fun Technologies, which operates the popular American site SkillJam. In 2006 SkillJam acquired Worldwinner, the No. 2 skill-based game site in the United States.

In Europe, the dominant site is British-based King.com. The big Web portals have noticed this phenomenon, and today almost every self-respecting, sizable portal has a joint venture with a skill-based game company developing an exclusive trivia game for the site. Among these portals are Yahoo, MSN, Lycos and AOL.

Israel, too, is beginning to gain recognition in this field. Its main player is the startup PiSoft, which operates QuizArt.com. PiSoft has signed a cooperation agreement with Noobo (noobo.co.il), which allows surfers to take trivia quizzes for money or points. The site is based on the technology platform developed by PiSoft, and offers trivia games that specialize in general knowledge, entertainment and celebrities, and WinWin - a soccer trivia game.

Noobo is the brainchild of Eilon Ginsburg, who now chairs the company. Noobo.com was launched just a month ago, and has already been visited simultaneously by over 850 people.

PiSoft was founded in 2004 by Dudi Peles, Uzi Gabsi and Oded Katz, all in their early thirties and graduates of the Israel Defense Forces' Mamram computer programming course. "After our discharge from the army we worked together on various projects and wanted to build a company together," recalls Peles.

He and his friends noticed the growing popularity of TV game shows offering merchandise and cash prizes, and wondered why nothing similar existed on the Web. "We wanted people to be able to play against one another online, just like on the TV game shows," says Gabsi.

PiSoft began developing a technology platform for running skill-based games, and the joint venture with Noobo is just the beginning. PiSoft plans to sell its technology platform to any interested party and to custom-design games. The fascinating thing about PiSoft's platform is that the question-formulating function is completely automated. "The system can analyze the content and determine the level of difficulty of the questions," says Peles.

How can the million-dollar question be determined?

"It is a question that a very low percentage of players will answer," says Peles. "The system also ensures that the same question will not appear twice, and indicates when there is a shortage of questions."

So far few Israelis are playing for money - most play only for points, but the low stakes (a few shekels) may encourage players to pay for games in the future. PiSoft estimates that the average active player will spend $120 a year.

PiSoft's business model is based on sales of its technology and commissions on revenues earned by game sites that use the technology.