Trivial Pursuit

Developer: Electronic Arts Inc./Hasbro
Price: $4.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Graphics / Sound [rating:4/5]
Gameplay [rating:4.5/5]
User Interface [rating:4/5]
Re-use / Replay Value [rating:4.5/5]

Overall Rating:

I may be making assumptions here, but I'm pretty sure that everyone in the world has been exposed to the Trivial Pursuit board game at some point. According to the all knowing Wikipedia, as of 2004, 88,000,000 units have been sold in 26 countries and in 17 languages. Needless to say, the game is a tried and true classic, worthy of any person's board game collection.

For those who have never played, Trivial Pursuit is one of the most challenging trivia games out there. The basic concept of the game is simple, go around the board answering questions until you fill up your "cheese wheel" with all the different color wedges. You can gain wedges only by answering questions correctly and you can only get wedges when you are on a categories main space.

The challenge in Trivial Pursuit comes from the difficulty of the trivia questions. While the game has lost some of its difficulty with some of its more current versions (90's, 80's, Pop Culture), the original game, in its original box with the scary calligraphy, is really, really hard. The questions always reference things that I had never heard of, which is really frustrating, but makes each correct answer a celebratory experience. I really don't know why I play as much as I do... there is just some sort of mystic draw to it.

So... the iPhone game. The nice thing about the iPhone version of Trivial Pursuit is that the questions that are asked are a mixture of insanely hard questions and easy, modern ones, giving everyone the feeling that they can indeed win a game... just not against me (ha!). I have ninja trivia master skills... I'd challenge you to a game, but you'd have to stop by my house (don't come, I really don't want to get beat). Other than the better balanced difficulty, the game is just like the board game, except for the super nifty Pursuit Mode. The Pursuit Mode is the mode that I can see myself coming back to over and over again, just to beat my own trivia high score.

Pursuit Mode
Pursuit Mode is set up with a board that has a beginning and an end (shocker). The goal is to make it to the end while missing as few questions as possible (double shocker). The game is pretty basic, but there are some fun Mario Party-esque features that add some spice. Some spaces double your dice roll while some others bounce you to another side of the board, sometimes giving you a shorter path to victory. Besides that, the rules are pretty standard, roll the dice, and if you get the question right you move forward that many spaces. If you miss, you simply go on to the next space.

Classic Mode
When you pop up classic mode, you will see the basic circular board from the board game. You can either play against a computer (doesn't it know all the answers?) or you can play over Wi-Fi or by hot-seat. I love the fact that there is a Wi-Fi option available, but it would certainly be nice to play some random people online. Hopefully there will be an update down the line that will add this.

Graphics and Sound
The graphics and sound of the game are all very tasteful, and at times extremely nice. The 3D board presented to you is animated very well, with lively piece movements and nice trivia layouts. Not related to the graphics, but also very nice, is the way the game tells you that your answer is incorrect. Instead of just turning red, the game makes the phone rabidly vibrate for a couple of seconds, almost punishing your phone for your lack of trivia knowledge.

Overall
I have to say that, with its multiple game modes and Wi-Fi play, I will be holding on to Trivial Pursuit for quite some time. EA did a really good job in reproducing the feel of the board game while finding a good balance in the games difficulty. It won't overly frustrate people who have no trivia knowledge and it won't overly bore the true ninja guru masters either (I should know!). My only fear is that I am going to start repeating cards soon, so I hope that EA adds more trivia questions in future updates.

Buy the game... just make it happen.