ThinkFast returns to campus to conclude homecoming events

The CSC homecoming festivities wrapped up Saturday night with the second-annual ThinkFast trivia event in the Ballroom, with one trivia master walking away with $200.

Colton Molcyk, 21, senior of McCook, walked away with the $200 cash prize after winning the preliminary speed round and the final trivia round. Molcyk wouldn’t have had a chance to be in the final round had it not been for the talent challenges throughout the night.

“My clicker died twice, so I had my points rest twice,” he said.

Molcyk was a solo player Saturday, so he walked away with the prize in full.

ThinkFast is a trivia challenge by the company ThinkFast Interactive, and is hosted by two ThinkFast Interactive employees. This trivia challenge is completely staged with lights and music, two screens, four podiums with buzzers and microphones and a DJ booth.

Lining up this event was a “long process,” said Taylor Osmotherly, associate director of Residence Life.

ThinkFast Interactive reached out to Osmotherly about coming back to CSC to put on another game show.

Once the company expressed their interest in bringing ThinkFast back to the college, Osmotherly then had to communicate with the Homecoming Committee to see if this was an event it wanted as a part of Homecoming.

RLA worked out contracts with ThinkFast Interactive, and ultimately booked them for $2,600.

Osmotherly expected around 50 people to show up, and the night saw 42 in total, along with six RAs manning the event.

“It’s hard being the Saturday night after Homecoming,” Osmotherly said.

However, that didn’t stop the players from pulling out all the stops and playing a competitive game.

At 9 p.m., host Tyler Mercereau kicked off the night by giving participants a run-down of how the game worked, while Brandon Schnotala DJ’ed and provided background music for the competition.

Each team had one remote. Teams could have up to five players, but people could also choose to play solo. Team names were completely randomized, giving an element of anonymity which upped the competitive atmosphere as players had no idea who was in the top three.

A question popped up on the two large screens at the front of the room, and the teams had to decide which of the five options was the correct answer for the question. The faster the team buzzed in, the more points it earned.

The questions were asked in different formats, including video questions and “Think Faster!” rounds, where teams would only have four seconds to answer each question in a set of five questions.

One of the ways in which this game varied from other trivia games is the ability to switch your answer after sending it in. As time ticked down, incorrect answer options would disappear.

If the option a team selected was no longer up there, the team still had a chance to switch their answer and earn some points.

ThinkFast isn’t only trivia. Players also got to participate in singing, dancing and acting challenges. In one challenge, two volunteers had 20 seconds to try to convince the room of competitors to move to Mars. Another two volunteers each chose a song and sang it for 20 seconds.

At the end of each of these challenges, the teams all voted on who was the best, and this person would later go on to play in a speed round of trivia to earn a spot in the final trivia challenge of the night.

The top three scoring teams each sent up a representative, and the three teams and the challenge trivia winner went head-to-head in the final trivia round.

In this round, each of the four competitors had to buzz in, the first to buzz in only having two seconds to answer the trivia question.

If correct, the competitor would tack on 100 points. The first competitor to 500 points won the cash prize of $200, provided by TJohnE Productions.

“It felt great (to win),” Molcyk said. “It was a rush, and definitely my favorite part of Homecoming.”