Trivial Pursuit

This always ends up being the game at our parties. Yes, we're a bunch of nerds. But it's a great choice if you want a game that doesn't require very little attention or intensity. And once you acquire a few versions, you can calibrate your choice to the mood in the room or the amount of drinking that's going on, from Millenium on the easy end (whiskey crowd) to to 6th edition on the hard side (wine crowd). Genghis is right that the game isn't exactly fair, but that doesn't matter too much unless you think TP is a test of intelligence, which it definitely isn't.

Trivial Pursuit is probably my favorite board game. The rules are simple, so you don't have to memorize an entire booklet of rules just to start playing. There is a small amount of "luck" involved as a part of it depends on the roll of the dice and what question cards are drawn. This allows for comebacks as a player with a big lead will need to land on just the right color. In the end, however, it's more about what you know than about luck. Games that rely entirely on dice rolls, what cards you draw, etc. often feel more frustrating than fun. Trivial Pursuit has just enough luck elements to keep in interesting, but not so much that it seems pointless (I'm looking at you Yahtzee).

It was fun back in the day but just imagine a group of teens today sitting around a coffee table in silence, Googling the answers via their cell phones. It somehow doesn't seem quite as interesting.

Hadn't played this game in years, so I dusted it off and read some of the cards. I know that's cheating, but I'll probably never play any of you. Anyway, I found this one card that I thought was interesting. The question was, "What was the only sound on Earth that was loud enough to be heard on the Moon?" Answer: The roar coming from the crowd in a partially filled Yankee Stadium during a ALCS Game when Alex Rodrigez got a single. GO TIGERS!

Love this game! but then again I have the ability to store a great deal of (otherwise) useless info in my head for long times and recall them when needed. Hence, I win a lot. This also means that my wife and kids aren't always excited to play this with me.

I used to HATE this game as a kid, because i never knew the answers... looking back, it wasnt a bad game... i was just being a poor sport.

This game is way over-rated! It was hot 25 years ago but has a lot of chance because it is a dice game. It does test knowledge but that is variable because of the chance.

Certainly gets credit for spawning a new generation of play . . . trivia! Execution, however, is horrible. This game feels like simply an excuse to ask each other questions. In fact, most people I know don't even bother with the gameboard.

I'll be honest. I love Trivial Pursuit because I'm a geek. So if you're a fact nut you'll probably love it. Otherwise you'll be frustrated by oddball questions and random factoids. Also, a word of warning: The 20th Century Pop Culture version is incredibly difficult!

Unless one just hates trivia games, how can anyone rate Trivia Pursuit less than five stars? Developed in Canada in the early 1980's (which explains all the Canadian oriented questions in the original edition), this game really hit the mark by combining a good format, logical categories (I ruled geography), and questions that weren't overly topical; however, as other comments noted, none of the subsequent editions measured up to the original. (A prior review noted correctly that these later versions contained more yes/no questions.) While there is some chance (i.e. a die roll largely determines which question is asked), one is largely limited only be their mental faculties and memory. Trivia Pursuit is also one of the few board games that players who struggle usually still like to play (especially on teams). The influence of this game on the popular culture is interesting as well. The game often became the source of people's knowledge, as I read once that the wrong answers on the cards... Read more

Only 4 stars because you not only need the right amount of people, you need people with a few smarts or the game goes on longer than a Catholic wedding or a Russian novel. . .having said that, TP is one underrated game for a party with your smarty-pants college friends. . .

I was pretty good at this game. I'd play my mom and brother for money (usually without a nickel in my pocket) and can't remember losing. That was the original blue version. To my dismay, the next version and all subsequent versions were diluted with an embarassing amount of 50% questions (yes or no, true or false). Gone were the classic "what is the capital of..." style questions , no guessing - either you knew it or you didn't. I guess there were too many North American troglodytes who couldn't keep up. It's a shame, pub quizzes have been popular in England and Ireland for years and I think it encourages debate and conversation. I've heard the Guiness Book was created to settle such arguments.

An all time favorite at family gatherings. I bought my Dad a Trivial Persuit beach towell one year and we use it as the board because it is so much bigger. We set up teams and after dinner we get our after dinner drinks and go to it. As the night wears on we haul out the snacks and the fun continues!

This would get a five if I was only rating the earlier editions. While new editions are necesarry for the sake of keeping the questions modern they have not maintained the quality of the questions espcially in the science and technology catagory.

The ultimate in trivia games. period.

Bwahahaha! I rock at this game. My family won't play with me though, they would rather play Phase 10, which I suck at. The only guy that can even possibly challenge me at T.P. is my father who is probably the smartest person I have ever met.

i love this game but nobody will play with me. id even miss questions if i could talk them into playing so maybe they'd want to play again. never let them win though. never really wanted to play again either

I love Trivial Pursuit. Its definitely a fun game for a person like me who loves random knowledge and facts. I recently played the 90's Edition with a group of people, and I knew almost every question. Playing the older editions of the game has often included many questions that were way before my time, but this edition hits everything from my lifetime.

It gets old very quickly because most of the time everyone ends up just guessing at the answer or not even knowing enough to guess.

Some people love this game, but I'm so bad at it that I can't stand to play it. I mean I did pretty well in school and all. This game makes me feel and look like a moron in front of my friends!

Now, I would consider my family to be of above-average intelligence, but the version of Trivial Pursuit we played had us stumped. Some questions were easy enough, but some were the kind that only college professors in that particular subject would know the answers to. I always hated landing on the orange pie, because it always meant I would have to make a ridiculous guess at a sports question.

The original version had good questions like What is the capital of Mongolia? But, the new versions ask stupid questions (and this question is on the back of the new Genus 6 Edition) IT goes somehting like: What appropriately named dinosaur was discovered in Muttabura, Austrailia? Answer? Muttaburasaurus. They do not require knowledge, only that you deduce from the question.

My dad was the real whiz at this.

Great questions, but the game is way too long. Use the question with another game system like Avalon Hill Trivia.

I hate this game, simply because when I land on a pie square, the question is invariably one to which I haven't the slightest chance at knowing the answer, especially if it's about sports or history. So I'm a bit biased against it.

Five stars for the original edition, and about two for all the others, which live up to the name (almost every question in them is truly trivial). The first edition actually has questions of some significance, covering history and science and a few things other than television and pop culture.

Our family likes to play trivial pursuit on occasion. We have different sets to play at the same time such as family,silver screen the regular set and we use the Disney cards with Trival pursuit as well. We make up our own rules so it does not take as long {hey we are not geniuses} the questions are fun some plain old trivia and others can be educational. A fun family night game.

Best played in teams, to negate the unbalancing effect of a trivia junkie. The later editions tend to be dominated by pop culture questions. The original edition is more fun and more intelligent.

A fun and challenging game. Now it's even better with the different types of trivial pursuit that are out. A good game to play in teams.

this is the best game in the world. in the world!

This game is lots of fun with the family. Split up into teams and the game gets really competitive- but fun! Then for days afterwards the winning team can brag about winning. The only thing I don't like is that some of the questions are way out there. It's a better game for adults, unless you get the kids version.

Only a good game if you have no memory.This game simply doe not have staying power.

Hard as hell

I'm a walking trivia game and really liked playing this game. The only thing I didn't like was finding out that the original creator intentionally made up some answers so that if anyone tried to copy the game he could turn around and sue them.

Trivial Pursuit can provide hours of fun for everyone of all ages. The main thing that I like about this game becuse of all of the different brands .

The 20th Anniversary is great for those of us younger folks. The questions are all from the past 20 years! I love this game!

A challenging game. I once found a question: Who are the only people in Madras, India who are allowed to drink alcohol? Answer: Alcoholics.

I find the game itself to be a bit hard, but it is a fun game to play with friends and family. One of my favorite episodes of the TV show, Wings, involved the characters playing this game and one of the guys, Lowell, kept answering every trivia question with "Ann Margaret". I've always wondered if that's actually an answer to a trivial pursuit question.

This game got old after awhile. I like trivia, don't get me wrong; however, I kept getting the same cards and by the time 2001 arrived, the questions seemed a bit dated. The creators got inventive with Junior Trivia, Baby Boomer Trivia, Trivial Pursuit II, etc. My wife says I am a font of useless trivia, which doesn't bother me, but truthfully, I don't like making people feel bad when they can't win and I invariably end up answering all the questions. That's no fun and it only breeds resentment. People take these things way too seriously! I won't even watch "Jeopardy!" or "Millionaire" because of the trivia trauma I put myself and other people through.

The main reason why I'm giving this game a great review, is that I played this like every day for a few weeks online, and I had a great ball. It was really fun and enjoyable and is a great way to pass time.

I like Trivial Pusuit but I wish they had questions which applied more to me. The other versions are way too easy or way too hard. My parents just love to play this game over and over until they get sick of it. They always win when I play with them.

This was the "game of the '80s" everyone had it and everyone loved to play. Of course, I was young and the only color pie I ever had a chance at was pink..entertainment. It was a great game to play with your entire family as well as friends. Haven't played in a while, I probably should, my mind is now full of trivial information.

Talk about stupid. This game relies on facts that no one in their right mind cares about. And don't play the French version if it's your second language.

I never played this game with a group of people that could anser the majority of these questions -- including myself ... but Jr. Trivial Pursuit was made for people like us -- college educated yuppies who never paid much attention to things going on around us!

I'm terrible at it - therefore it is no fun. Furthermore, people who are good at this game annoy me.

Great game, but it was frustrating to play with the whole family, because your parents had such a huge advantage. When it comes to questions involving 20th century history, kids can't compete with people who actually experienced the past four or five decades. Give me a pack of questions on 1985-1999 movies and I'll kick anyone's ass.

I really enjoyed the original version of trivial Pursuit - never really got into any of the other spun-off series that came out though. Great memories of playing that in junior high over the summer up at camp - fun game to play with you r family and with friends.