High-Q is the sport of the information junkie. It is a quiz game involving two teams of four players. The matches last four rounds. High-Q was started by the Optimist Clubs of El Paso in order to promote a deeper interest in education. Competitions between high schools are broadcast weekly on the local PBS affiliate.
The First Round lasts five minutes and consists of a series of toss-up questions. Any player may buzz in to answer the question. If the player answers incorrectly, the opposing team has a chance to buzz in, but no one on the incorrect player’s team may buzz in. Questions are worth 5, 10 , and 15 points.
The Bonus Round lasts ten minutes and consists of a series of toss-up questions. If a player answers a question correctly, his team has a chance to collectively answer a series of 5 questions, stopping at the first incorrect answer (and bouncing the incorrectly answered question back to the opposing team). Toss-up questions are worth 5, 10, and 15 points. Bonus questions start at 5 points and increase by 5 points after each correctly answered question in a series.
The Lightning Round lasts 60 seconds per team. Each team chooses from a set of categories (starting with the low scoring team) from which they must collectively answer as many of the 10 questions as they can. If the team answers all of the questions correctly within the allotted time, they get a 20 point bonus. Any questions that are answered incorrectly are bounced back to the other team. Questions are worth 10 points.
The last round is called Stump the Experts. It is exactly like the First Round, except the questions are harder. Questions are worth 10, 15, and 20 points.