50 Fun Facts About Trivial Pursuit

In which country was Trivial Pursuit invented?

Two Montreal journalists came up with it in December 1979 and first released it there in 1981.

In which city was the game dreamed up on 15 December 1979?

The creators worked for the city's newspaper and for The Canadian Press at the time.

Which co-creator was a photo editor at The Gazette newspaper?

His brother John Haney and Ed Werner later helped finish development of the game.

Scott Abbott, the other co-creator, was a sports editor for which news agency?

A sports editor and a photo editor designed the game together in under an hour.

Most origin stories of the game involve an argument over which other board game?

The usual version has the pair deciding they could make a better game themselves.

The game was reportedly designed in 45 minutes on the back of what?

The questions then took all of 1980 to research and 1981 to test-market.

In which year was the game first released?

It had sold 100,000 copies in its home market by the following year.

Some early question writing was done in Weymouth Library, in which English county?

The Haney brothers were staying with family in the seaside town at the time.

In which year did sales begin in the United States?

Between then and 1988 the original version sold 30 million copies.

Which company first licensed the rights in 1982?

Selchow and Righter was the long-time U.S. publisher of Scrabble.

Which company turned the game down before Parker Brothers licensed it in 1988?

Richard Branson's conglomerate passed on what became one of the best-selling games ever.

How much did Hasbro pay for the full rights in 2008?

Hasbro had already controlled the game through Parker Brothers for two decades.

As of 2014, the game had been published in how many languages?

More than 100 million copies had been sold across 26 countries by then.

Northern Plastics, which moulded tens of millions of copies from 1983 to 1985, was in which state?

The factory was in Elroy, a town of fewer than 2,000 people.

Which magazine put the game in its Hall of Fame in December 1993?

The same magazine had listed it in its Games 100 every year from 1982 to 1986.

In which year was it inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame?

The Hall of Fame is housed at The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.

How many question categories does the classic game have?

Each category has its own colour, and each colour has its own headquarters space.

Which colour marks Geography in the classic edition?

The colours are printed on the board squares as well as on the wedges.

Pink wedges belong to which category?

Pink is the colour most players know best, since it is the pop-culture category.

Art & Literature was originally brown before changing to which colour?

The 1999 Millennium computer edition still used a brown wedge, but for Science & Nature.

Orange wedges are earned in which category?

Sports & Leisure is the category that trips up bookish players.

The small plastic scoring wedges are nicknamed what?

The playing piece is round and divided into six sections like a pie.

What shape is the central hub space on the board?

Six spokes radiate from the hub, one per category.

How many dice does a player roll to move?

A correct answer lets you roll again and keep going.

To attempt the winning question, a full playing piece must reach the hub how?

A miss means leaving the hub next turn and coming back for another go.

Who picks the category for the final winning question?

Naturally they choose the category the leader is worst at.

What is the original edition of the game known as?

Later general-knowledge sets were numbered Genus II and so on.

British players complained that which year's edition was "dumbed down"?

The gripe was easier questions and too much celebrity and showbiz.

Which trivia-book author sued the game's distributors in October 1984?

He had written The Trivia Encyclopedia, Super Trivia and Super Trivia II.

That 1984 lawsuit claimed more than what share of the original questions were copied?

He said the copying even reproduced his typos and deliberately planted errors.

A planted fake answer gave which TV detective the first name "Philip"?

The bogus fact was inserted in the encyclopedia as a copyright trap, and it appeared on a game card.

Which appeals court upheld the ruling for the game's inventors in September 1987?

The judges agreed that facts themselves cannot be copyrighted.

David Wall, who sued the creators in 1994, came from which Canadian province?

He was from Cape Breton and said the meeting happened near Sydney.

The 1994 claimant said he pitched the idea while doing what in 1979?

He said he described the game in detail, right down to the shape of the markers.

In which year did a court finally rule against the 1994 Cape Breton claim?

The case dragged on for 13 years, partly over whether a judge or jury should decide it.

Who hosted the U.S. TV version on The Family Channel from 1993 to 1994?

Jay Wolpert had shot a pilot in 1987 that was never picked up.

Who hosted the syndicated "Trivial Pursuit: America Plays" in 2008-09?

Knight is best remembered as Peter Brady on The Brady Bunch.

Roger Lodge hosted a five-episode sports edition in 2004 on which network?

Lodge was better known for hosting the dating show Blind Date.

Who hosted the version that premiered on The CW in October 2024?

Burton had campaigned publicly to host Jeopardy! a few years earlier.

Who hosted the BBC's game show based on the game?

A second British version, on The Family Channel, was hosted by Tony Slattery.

The 1988 TV movie "Breaking All the Rules" featured music by which singer?

The film played the story as a comedy about three beer-loving Canadians.

The Soviet Union's licensed 1989 TV version was known by what name?

After the licence ended in 1991 the show dropped the game's elements but ran until 2000.

Which company released an arcade version in 1984?

Several variants of the arcade cabinet followed.

Which British software house made the 1980s home computer version?

It added pictorial and musical questions but otherwise kept the board game's mechanics.

In the 1999 Millennium Edition, which mode let players wager their scores on a final question?

Questions in that mode ranged from 250 to 1,000 points.

Which mobile game was adapted from the board game?

It was also ported to the Nokia N-Gage as Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition.

Ubisoft's Trivial Pursuit: Live! (2014) is similar to which console quiz series?

It later shipped on the Hasbro Family Fun Pack and Hasbro Game Night compilations.

Which studio developed Trivial Pursuit Live! 2 in 2022?

It launched on PS4, Xbox One, Switch and Stadia.

French magazine Jeux & Stratégie reviewed the game under which name?

The review praised the questions but noted they were sometimes open to doubt.

Who hosted the second British version, on The Family Channel (later renamed Challenge)?

It used the same theme tune and format as the Wink Martindale show.