Historically, question-and-answer games have existed since game publication began — and even before if we consider homemade examples such as 20 questions and truth-or-dare. Trivial Pursuit elevated this type of game with a scoring game board and the now-familiar plastic “pie piece” scoring tokens, as well as hundreds of question cards. Players loved it.
GENUS EDITION
According to legend, Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal’s The Gazette, and Scott Abbott, a sports editor for The Canadian Press, had lost some tiles from their Scrabble game and decided to create a new game of their own. After considerable research and help from friends, they finished their design in 1979 and got Trivial Pursuit published in 1982 by Selchow & Righter (later Parker Brothers and then Hasbro.) By 1986, the game had sold 20-million units and sales continued to increase.
SUBJECT VARIANTS
Soon after the original version, new subject variants were released to cater to expanding audiences and younger generations. These range from a Star Wars Classic Trilogy Collectors Edition game in 1997 and the Millennium Edition two years later, to a Saturday Night Live DVD version from 2003, and a Star Wars Saga edition also on DVD in 2005.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The Trivial Pursuit Interactive Multimedia Game is a CD-ROM edition from 1994. According to the box notes, players “roll the on-screen die and move around the board answering questions… To win, give a correct answer in each of (the) six categories.” The game offers thousands of images, video clues, celebrity appearances, sports moments, historic events, and CD-quality music. Today, video game versions such as Trivial Pursuit Digital Choice from 2008 and 2011’s Trivial Pursuit Bet You Know It in which players bet on opponent’s answers and can steal wedges for wrong answers, are just a few examples.
As the world of online gaming expands, Trivial Pursuit continues to evolve. On pogo.com, one can play Trivial Pursuit Online (with friends, like the popular Words With Friends — players can add up to 20 friends to compete with).
With the recent the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), online trivia games such as trivialpursuit.com/daily now offer players a choice of topics, aided by AI. In January 2024, Hasbro announced Trivial Pursuit Infinite. Players are challenged by questions tailored to their interests by the AI component of the game. With this new AI-guided experience, Hasbro aims to give new and seasoned fans more ways to engage with the 41-year-old game.
We have no way of knowing what new developments and challenges may appear tomorrow. But Trivial Pursuit, the classic and best-known question-and-answer game in modern board game history, will undoubtedly endure.
