It's been almost 25 years since Trivial Pursuit first became part of our modern-day culture. Invented by two intrepid Canadian journalists (from Montreal!), it ignited the then-moribund board game market and defined the brain-teasing subcategory that has since dominated the field.
It also gave me ample opportunity to act like an arrogant showboat at more parties and get-togethers than I can recall. Come to think of it, that might explain why I stopped receiving invitations after a while.
Seriously, though, it was through this game and its successors that I learned that my head was a trap for the most mindless minutae known to humankind. It's an affliction that persists to this day, and comes in handy when I'm either looking for things to write about, or am scrambling to fill in a hole in something I've already written.
The Toronto Star ran a neat article, Trivia: It's 'who we are', in today's paper. If you've ever played the game, this piece will totally take you back. You never know: it may become a question in some future iteration of the game.
Ahh, Trivial Pursuit. That game has led to many an argument at almost every family get-together I've ever been to. It probably doesn't help that the teams are always split up "men" vs. "women."
ReplyDeleteGood old Trivial Pursuit! My favorite game to play while drinking tea and eating ginger snaps. It's always a coup when I beat Arthur! I've introduced my little scamps to Trivial Pursuit Junior, a simpler (and lesser -the pieces are made of cardboard!) little cousin to the adult favorite.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already - I highly recommend the Canadian version. You really can't play the original Genus version anymore, since the answers are highly inaccurate, due to their age (which, actually, can be a fun sub-game, where you have to figure out the answer relative to the time of publication...)
Thanks for the nostalgia.