Trivia games… We don’t know about you but showing off your knowledge of random facts is something we find fun! But they’re not for everyone.
The classic games (like Trivial Pursuit) are fun but sometimes have issues. Luckily there many many alternatives out there, which solve some of the problems the older games had so that everyone can enjoy them!
So, scratch your head, go umm and go ahhh… here are some awesome Trivia or Trivia adjacent games for everyone to enjoy!
Too much downtime? Try Confident!
It’s the end of the game, the loser turns around and those words you dread to hear are said… “If I had got the questions you got… I’d have won!”. Sure you would, but you didn’t… nobody likes a sore loser…
Confident?
Every answer here is a number. You’re all going to answer the same question at the same time so nobody can claim you got the easy questions… but instead of just attempting to get the right number you’ll write a range of numbers on your private board. From the lowest to the highest of where you think it might be… Everyone reveals when done and everyone who has the answer in their range gets a point.
It’s not over though, if you have the smallest range then it’s a bonus 2 points! So, how confident are you? Get it?
That would make a solid game but that’s not all. It’s the extra touches they put in that make it great. Interesting facts about the answer abound, the occasional pun too, a few special abilities you can use once per game each that allow you to copy someone’s answer or swap two people’s answers or even double your points… Even the extra board in the middle of the table where you can wind up anyone taking too long by sketching them or trash talking them!
Bored? Try… Death By Coconuts!
‘Who scored in the 1982 match between Snoreville and Borington?’, ‘What’s the capital of Nobodyevenknowswherethisis-land?’, ‘Where is the… blah, blah, blah, dull, zzzzz….’
Yeah, we’ve all been there, dull questions on a boring subject…
Death by Coconuts
Here we are dealing with statistics. But not just any statistics… Purely deadly ones.
Three options of a fatal nature are shown on the table and you need to place a bet on which is the most deadly. It’s a race, if you are correct then however many you bet, you will move forward, but beware! Get it wrong and you move backwards. There is always an interesting decision to be had here and you’ll be amazed at some of the answers.
Just as before there are aspects of the game that raise it up and make it even better. The board is a beautiful colour and illustrated amazingly. They’ve hidden 150 coconuts on it! There are shortcuts forwards and backwards and a pair of safe spots you can’t fall back from. There are even cards that give you special powers.
Questions too hard?… Try CDSK
You’ve been there. You need to answer a question on prize winners in a specific area on a specific date and you’re like… What? How could anyone answer such a difficult question?
CDSK
Before you answer a question in CDSK, you will be asked… erm… a question?
Let me explain, at the top of most cards there is this… ’On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you know…’ followed by a subject. Depending on your answer you will be asked one of ten questions. Opt for a 1 and it will be easy, opt for a 10 and it’ll be hardcore, with a variety in between. Get it right and move that many steps forward. Get it wrong and you stay there. How simple is that?
Well, you’re probably now thinking why the weird name? Well, There are 6 types of square in the game, C, D, S, K, ‘Challenge’ and ‘Hurry up and win!’. CDSK are categories, namely Curious, Delightful, Seasoned and Knowledge, land on one of these and that’s the question type you get next turn. Sometimes it’s worth answering a ‘1’ just to get to a preferred category!
Challenge squares are something a bit different and the final square is the difficult question square…
This has become a fan favourite at the cafes. We were so impressed we wrangled a UK exclusive deal for a few months before general release!
Funny story, two of our Games Gurus played this at a staff gaming evening and got asked “On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do you know Modern Board Games”. Well, they went for a ten. Obviously… panic set in after hearing the question. Yeah, they got it wrong, much to their dismay! Hilarious! Or not, it was me 🙁
I will never live that down, and now everyone knows….
Moving on.
Too much downtime? Try 5 Second Rule
Uncle Sid is competitive, he’s not doing so well at this Trivia game so every time it’s his turn he takes aaaaaaaaaaaaaaages as he wants to get it right. Aunty Babs has fallen asleep and Nephew Joe is on his phone scrolling… is this the end of games night?
5 second rule
‘Name 3 things that…’, the countdown begins, you umm and ahh… and reel off three things, just in time, you only had 5 seconds! That’s it. There are harder squares and a Junior variant too.
Instead of specific answers you’re under time pressure to list off three things fast. It’s amazing how your brain just stops working under this kind of pressure. At least you get some downtime after, except… not really, rounds are super quick, obviously! Uncle Sid better be fast, Aunty Babs is up next and Nephew Joe is laughing his socks off as you just said the name of your cats instead of listing breeds of cats!
That’s more like it!
Forgotten whose turn it is? Try ANOMIA
‘I just went.’, ‘No you didn’t, that was a few turns ago, it’s your turn again…’, yeah, losing track of what’s going on in a Trivia game can easily happen…
Enter the solution…
Anomia
It’s your go, you flip a card and look around to see if your symbol matches anyone else… there! What’s the category? Verb. Err… What’s a verb again? Dang. ‘221b Baker Street’ shouts your opponent, they just named a famous address, they win…
When a card is flipped the first person with a matching symbol to name something in the category on the other matching card wins the point. Another cunning and simple game but you need to keep focused as even when it’s not your go, you may need to shout out something random.
Add to this wild cards and the fact that when a card is taken off of you, the card beneath may then also match with someone else and this game just keeps getting better.
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So, has that fixed Trivia games for you or made them more inclusive? We hope so, show off your knowledge skills and get those bragging rights!