Trivial Pursuit
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| File:Trivialpursuit.jpg | |
| Players | 2–36 |
|---|---|
| Setup time | 5 minutes |
| Playing time | 90 minutes |
| Chance | Medium |
| Age range | 15 + |
| Skills | General knowledge, Popular culture |
Trivial Pursuit is a board game where progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge, popular culture questions. The game was made by in 1979 by Scott Abbott, a sports editor for the Canadian Press, and Chris Haney, of Welland, Ontario, a photo editor for the Montreal Gazette. After finding pieces of their Scrabble game missing, they decided to create their own game.[1] With the help of John Haney and Ed Werner, they completed development of the game, which was released in 1982.[2]
In North America, the game's popularity peaked in 1984, a year in which over 20 million games were sold. The rights to the game were licensed to Parker Brothers (now part of Hasbro) in 1988, after initially being turned down by Richard Branson's Virgin Group. As of 2004, nearly 88 million games had been sold in 26 countries and 17 languages. Northern Plastics of Elroy, Wisconsin produced 30,000,000 games between 1983 and 1985.
Dozens of question sets have been released for the game. The question cards are organized into themes -- for instance, in the standard "Genus" question set, questions in green are about "science and nature." Some question sets have been designed for younger players and others for a specific time period or as promotional tie-ins for pop culture (such as Star Wars, Saturday Night Live, and The Lord of the Rings movies). Most recently, ODVD, the makers of "Shout About Movies", created the Trivial Pursuit: Totally On-Screen DVD game, which puts the game board on screen for a faster-paced game with more head-to-head competition, video clips, and music.
Rules
The object of the game is to move along the circular track and the spokes by correctly answering questions and trying to collect colored wedges (also known informally as "cheese" or "pie" because of their shape) for correct answers in each of the six category "headquarters" located at the base of each spoke. To win, a player (or team) returns to the hexagonal hub and correctly answers the game-winning question in a category chosen by the other players.
Before the game begins, each player selects one token and six colored scoring wedges in each of the six category colors. Each player rolls the die to see who will go first. All players start at the hexagonal hub at the center of the board and move down one of the spokes and out onto the circular track. Play moves in either direction along the track.
On a player's first turn, the player rolls the die and selects which color/category on which s/he wants to land and down which of the six spokes s/he will move. If a six is rolled, s/he will immediately land on a category headquarters and try for a scoring wedge of that color.
The color on which a player's piece lands determines the category of the question to be asked by another player. The questioning player draws a card from either one of the card boxes, and the question is read next to the appropriately colored dot. Answers are on the reverse side of each card. When done with the question, the card is placed in the back of its box, behind the other cards.
If the player answers his/her first question correctly, his/her turn continues by rolling the die again and moving that number of spaces.
On each roll of the die, the player may select which direction s/he wants to move along the track as s/he attempts to move toward category headquarters to try for scoring wedges in each of the six colors. A player may not move both forward and backward in the same move. The player must always move the number of spaces shown on the die. If the player answers a question incorrectly, the play passes to the player on his/her left.
On subsequent turns, when the player answers a category headquarters question correctly, s/he puts that colored wedge into his/her token. If s/he answers incorrectly, on his/her next turn, s/he must move out of that category headquarters for a turn before reentering and trying again for that color piece. The player does not have to try that same category immediately; s/he may move elsewhere on the board and return to it later.
There are 12 "roll again" spaces on the track. If the player lands on one, s/he continues his/her turn by rolling the die and moving again.
Any number of tokens may occupy the same space at the same time.
A player may cut across the board by moving his/her token up the spokes to the center hub and out again, moving either straight across the hub, or by changing direction and going down another spoke. If s/he lands in the hub by exact count but cannot try to win the game because s/he does not have color wedges in all six colors, that space is treated as a "wild card," and the player may choose any category s/he wants for his/her question.
Once a player has collected one scoring wedge in each color, s/he makes his/her way toward the hexagonal hub and tries to answer the game-winning question. S/he must land in the hub by exact count. If s/he overshoots the hub, s/he picks the spoke s/he wants to move down and answers the question in the category on which s/he lands; then, on his/her next move, s/he attempts to land on the hub by exact count.
Once a player lands on the hub, the other players select the category of the game-winning question from the next card in the card box. The players must select the category first and then draw the next card and read the question for the category. There has been some confusion about this rule where players think they should read all the questions on the card first and then picked the category they feel has the most challenging question for the other player to answer. This is mostly the result of some vague instructions in later versions of Trivial Pursuit. However, the instructions for the first Genus version clearly state that the players must pick the category first before drawing the card and reading the question.
If the player answers correctly, the game is won. If it is answered incorrectly, the player must leave the hub on the next turn and re-enter it for another question.
Since a player continues his/her turn until s/he misses a question, it is possible for one player to collect all six scoring wedges, then move into the hub and win the game all in one turn. If this happens, any player who has not yet had a turn is permitted a chance to duplicate the feat and create a tie.
All master games may be played with cards from other master games and from replacement and enhancement card sets or special packs. The colored dots on the question-and-answer cards are always arranged in the same order to facilitate interchangeable play.
Different editions
Over the years, numerous editions of Trivial Pursuit have been produced, usually specializing in various fields. The original version is known as the Genus edition (or Genus I). Several other general knowledge editions have followed (Genus II, etc.). Among the different versions that have been available over the years are:
- Original- Genus (1981)
- Volume II board (1987)
- Genus II card set (1984)
- Genus III (1994)
- Genus IV' (1996)
- Genus V (2000)
- Volume 6 (2003)
- All American board game (1993)
- 10th Anniversary (1992)
- Walt Disney Family Board Game (1981)
- Walt Disney Family Edition card set (1985)
- Disney Animated Picture (2002)
- TV card set (1991)
- The 1980's (1989)
- RPM card set (1985)
- Baby Boomer card set (1983)
- The 1960's card set (1989)
- All Sports card set (1983)
- Silver Screen card set (1981)
- Young Players card set (1987)
- Vintage Years (20's/50's) (1989)
- Millenium (1998)
- Warner Bros (1999)
- Star Wars Classic Trilogy Collector's (1997)
- Stars Wars Ep I (1999)
- Star Wars Saga 2 DVD (2005)
- Biographies (2000)
- Welcome to America card set (1985)
- The Year in Review 1992 (1992)
- In Pursuit (1994, 2001)
- Game Show (1993)
- The Year in Review 1993 (1993)
- 2003 DVD Pop Culture (2003)
- 2005 DVD Pop Culture 2 (2005)
- 20th Anniversary (2002)
- Lord of the Rings (2003)
- Lord of the Rings DVD (2004)
- Pocket Player Boob Tube (1987)
- Pocket Player TP's People (1987)
- Flicks Travel card set (1989)
- Country Music Travel card set(1993)
- Sports Travel card set (1989)
- TV Travel card set (1989)
- 90's edition (in tin box) (2004)
- Rock and Pop Travel card set (1989)
- The Good Life Travel card set (1987) (Canada)
- War & Victory Travel card set (1987) (Canada)
- Saturday Night Live DVD (2004)
- Know-It All TP (2000)
- Know-it-All (Winning Moves) (1998)
- Know-It-All New England (Winning Moves-very hard to find)
- Know-It-All New York (Winning Moves-very hard to find)
- Know-It-All Chicago (Winning Moves-very hard to find)
- Book Lover's Edition (2004)
- Junior Edition (Chocolate)
- Trivial Pursuit for Juniors board (1987)
- Junior Edition 2 (1990)
- Junior Player Ed 3 (1994)
- Junior Player Ed 4 (1996)
- Junior Player Ed 5 (2001)
- Junior Player Ed 6 (2004)
- Junior Edition (Sour Candy)
- For Kids (Jr.) Nickelodeon
- DVD For Kids
- Bite Sized (2003)
- Pop Culture 2 to go (2006)
- Totally '80's (2006)
- TP for Kids Nickelodeon Ed (2006)
This list consists of board game/card sets released in US only. Other "official" Trivial Pursuit games such as "Star Trek" have been released in United Kingdom. That list is not currently available.
Controversies
Fred Worth lawsuit
In October 1984, Fred L. Worth, author of The Trivia Encyclopedia, Super Trivia, and Super Trivia II, filed a $300 million lawsuit against the distributors of Trivial Pursuit. He claimed that more than a quarter of the questions in the game's Genus Edition had been taken from his books, even to the point of reproducing typographical errors and deliberately placed misinformation. One of the questions in Trivial Pursuit was "What was Columbo's first name?" with the answer "Philip." That information had been fabricated by Worth and placed in his book to catch anyone who might try to violate his copyright.
The inventors of Trivial Pursuit acknowledged that Worth's books were among their sources, but argued that this was not improper and that facts are not protected by copyright. The district court judge agreed, ruling in favor of the Trivial Pursuit inventors. The decision was appealed, and in September 1987 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California upheld the ruling. The issue was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, which rejected Worth's arguments once and for all in March 1988.
David Wall lawsuit
In 1994, David Wall of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, launched a lawsuit against the game's creators. He claimed that in the fall of 1979, he and a friend were hitchhiking near Sydney, Nova Scotia when they were picked up by Chris Haney. Wall claimed that he told Haney about his idea for the game in detail, including the shape of the markers.
Wall's mother testified she found drawings of his that looked like plans for a Trivial Pursuit-like game, but the drawings had since been destroyed. Wall's friend, who was allegedly hitchhiking with him that day, never testified. Haney said he never met Wall.
Over the years, there was much legal wrangling, notably around whether the suit should be decided by a judge or jury. It ended up being heard by a judge of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Final testimony was heard during the first week of 2007, and a decision is expected to come within a few months.[citation needed]
Dumbing down accusations
In the United Kingdom, Trivial Pursuit players have complained that recent versions of the game are dumbed down in comparison to previous editions, with easier questions and more focus on celebrities and show business.[citation needed] In addition, some long time players in the U.S. have complained that recent editions promote commercial products, with questions such as, "Who was the first pizza delivery outfit to promise your order in 30 minutes?" (from the Genus III edition)[3].
Television
A version of Trivial Pursuit hosted by Wink Martindale aired on The Family Channel in the USA. BBC Television produced a Trivial Pursuit quiz show based on the game in the UK hosted by Rory McGrath. Another British version (with slightly different rules) was hosted on The Family Channel (now Challenge) by Tony Slattery. Birgit Lechtermann hosted a version for VOX in Germany from 1993 to 1994.
In 1988, a made-for-television movie entitled "Breaking all the Rules: The Creation of Trivial Pursuit" was aired. Treated largely as a comedy, the movie featured the music of Ginette McLeod and portrayed the creators of the game as three beer-loving Canadians.
In September 2004, Stuart Scott hosted a very short-lived version of the show on ESPN based on Sports Trivia.