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50 free Ready Player One trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
46 free Ready Player One trivia questions with answers. Ready Player One is two hunts in one: Ernest Cline's 2011 novel and Steven Spielberg's 2018 film tell the same story of Wade Watts chasing James Halliday's Easter egg through the OASIS, but they take very different routes. This quiz covers both. Book questions cover the stacks in Oklahoma City, the Tomb of Horrors and Joust, the Cap'n Crunch whistle, the perfect Pac-Man game, Rush's 2112, Zork and Adventure. Film questions cover the backwards race, the Overlook Hotel from The Shining, the Iron Giant standing in for Ultraman, Planet Doom, and the High Five. There are also questions on the people who made it: how Cline hid a real Easter egg in the book with a DeLorean as the prize, who narrated the audiobook, the directors Warner Bros. asked before Spielberg, John Williams handing the score to Alan Silvestri, the Birmingham streets that played Columbus, Ohio, the box office and the poorly received sequel Ready Player Two. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on the novel, the film and their author, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote the 2011 novel Ready Player One?
Ernest Cline
It was his debut novel; he had earlier co-written the screenplay for Fanboys and won the Austin Poetry Slam twice.
Q 02In what year is Ready Player One set?
2045
The world is gripped by an energy crisis after fossil fuels run out, so people escape into the OASIS.
Q 03What is the name of the virtual universe where most of the story takes place?
The OASIS
The film spells it out as the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation.
Q 04What is Wade Watts's avatar called?
Parzival
He named himself after the Arthurian knight who sought the Holy Grail, spelling it to get a unique handle.
Q 05Who created the OASIS and left the Easter egg contest in his will?
James Halliday
Cline modelled him partly on Willy Wonka, Howard Hughes and Ultima creator Richard Garriott.
Q 06What is Halliday's avatar called?
Anorak the All-Knowing
Anorak is British slang for an obsessive geek; the avatar is a tall wizard in black robes.
Q 07How many keys must a player find to reach the Easter egg?
3
Copper, Jade and Crystal, each opening a gate.
Q 08What are the three keys made of?
Copper, jade and crystal
The Copper Key sat unfound for five years after Halliday's death.
Q 09What are people who hunt for Halliday's Easter egg called?
Gunters
It is short for egg hunters; the Sixers are IOI's corporate army.
Q 10What does IOI, the villainous corporation, stand for?
Innovative Online Industries
It is the world's main internet service provider and wants to plaster the OASIS with ads.
Q 11Who is the head of IOI's egg-hunting operation?
Nolan Sorrento
Cline named him after Atari founder Nolan Bushnell as a "subtle tribute".
Q 12In the novel, where does Wade live at the start?
The stacks in Oklahoma City
The stacks are trailer homes piled on top of each other; the film moves the stacks to Columbus.
Q 13In the novel, which arcade game does Wade beat the lich Acererak at to win the Copper Key?
Joust
The tomb is a recreation of the Dungeons & Dragons module Tomb of Horrors on the school planet Ludus.
Q 21How is Aech pronounced?
Like the letter H
The name is a phonetic spelling of the letter.
Q 22The Japanese hunters Daito and Shoto take their names from what?
The long and short samurai swords
In the book IOI murders Daito and passes it off as suicide; in the film he survives.
Q 23The OASIS co-founders, Halliday and his best friend Og, were inspired by which real-life pair?
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Cline said Morrow is more like Jobs, the charismatic leader; his avatar name nods to the Wizard of Oz.
Q 14In the novel, which 1983 film does Wade have to role-play line-for-line to clear the First Gate?
WarGames
He plays Matthew Broderick's David Lightman; the film cut this scene as too dull to watch.
Q 15In the novel, what does Wade win for playing a perfect game of Pac-Man?
A quarter that grants an extra life
He only discovers it is an extra life after IOI's doomsday device wipes out every avatar in the sector.
Q 16In the novel, which Infocom text game does Wade solve on the planet Frobozz to earn the Jade Key?
Zork
He then blows a 2600-hertz tone on a Cap'n Crunch Bo'sun whistle, a nod to phone-phreaking lore.
Q 17In the novel, which band's album 2112 provides the clue on the planet Syrinx?
Rush
Playing the "Discovery" section reveals how to open the final gate.
Q 18Which Atari 2600 game, home of the first video game Easter egg, holds Halliday's egg?
Adventure
Programmer Warren Robinett hid his name in it in 1980; in the book Parzival also plays Tempest and quotes Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Q 19What is Art3mis's real name?
Samantha Cook
She named her avatar after the Greek goddess of the hunt.
Q 20Who is Aech in the real world?
Helen Harris, a heavyset Black lesbian from Atlanta
Her avatar is a white heterosexual man, which is the point; Lena Waithe played her in the film.
Q 24How does IOI try to kill Wade after he refuses to work for them?
They blow up his aunt's trailer
Wade is out at the time; his Aunt Alice and her boyfriend Rick are killed.
Q 25In the novel, how does Wade get inside IOI's headquarters to sabotage the force field?
He gets himself arrested and put into indentured servitude
From IOI tech support he hacks the intranet, plants a timed booby trap and steals evidence of Daito's murder.
Q 26Who narrated the Ready Player One audiobook?
Wil Wheaton
Wheaton is even mentioned in the text; he returned for Ready Player Two.
Q 27What was the grand prize in the real-life Easter egg hunt Cline hid in the novel?
A 1981 DeLorean
Craig Queen won it in 2012 by setting a Joust world record, and collected it on the TV show X-Play.
Q 28Which two awards did the novel pick up in 2011-12?
The Prometheus Award and an Alex Award
The Alex Award goes to adult books with special appeal to teenagers.
Q 29Who directed the 2018 film adaptation?
Steven Spielberg
Warner Bros. tried Nolan first, then shortlisted Zemeckis, Wright, Matthew Vaughn and Peter Jackson.
Q 30Which director did Warner Bros. first try to sign after Interstellar, before Spielberg?
Christopher Nolan
Josh Trank also turned the job down twice.