New app tests players’ knowledge of Jackson
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — When Jackson native Warn Wilson Jr. decided to create a trivia game, he knew he wanted to include questions about his hometown and test the knowledge of residents and people with ties to the town.
“I thought it would be cool for me to be from Jackson,” said Wilson, who lives in Memphis. “I hadn’t seen Jackson in an app. I thought it would be a cool shoutout to my hometown.
Two years ago, he created the trivia game, Na Bruh, as a card game with 150 questions. He designed a logo and visited a few pop-up shops in Jackson and Memphis to spread the word about the game, but Wilson wanted to take it to the next level.
Last year, he tapped into his knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math and came up with a solution: turn the game into an app.
Wilson worked with a developer to create the app. It features 5,000 trivia questions and 12 categories, including cities, music, decades, and sports.
Jackson has its own category and includes questions like these:
“There’s a well-known extinct volcano in Jackson. Where is it situated? Answer: Under the Mississippi Coliseum
— The late Mayor Chokwe Lumumba was once the lawyer for which famous hip-hop artist? Answer: Tupac Shakur
To ask questions for the Jackson trivia category, Wilson drew on his own knowledge growing up in the city and the knowledge of his family and friends. He also learned more through research.
Wilson went to Murrah High School and Bailey Magnet High School, now Bailey APAC Middle School. During his schooling, Wilson was exposed to the arts and STEM, which he says were the foundation of his interests and what he does now.
Wilson became interested in math and science through video games and electronics. His mother said engineering would be a good career path that would encourage his curiosity, he said.
Wilson, who studied electrical engineering at Mississippi State University, said he loves engineering and art because they complement each other. Wilson said he liked the structure of the engineering and the openness of the art.
“Both require creativity and an open mind,” he said.
In Memphis, Wilson is an engineer for a medical device company and works on his own creative and entrepreneurial projects.
He’s a painter whose work is on display in Memphis, and he created his first mural last year. He’s also written a book called “Brown Money” that introduces kids to financial literacy, and he’s working on an accompanying app for it.
Additionally, he speaks at schools and nonprofits about STEM and financial literacy, which he says are helpful topics for kids to learn early.
“I really tapped into my creative side,” Wilson said. “I try to keep the creative juices flowing.”
The Na Bruh app is available for download and purchase for $2.99 through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Find more information about Warn Wilson at warnwilson.com.
