Trivial Pursuit Genus - Toys and Games (Hasbro)

Trivial Pursuit has just moved into the 21st century with the Genus Edition. Ever felt disadvantaged at Trivial Pursuit simply because the questions related to a time just before you were born--to 50s films and politicians? If so the bang up-to-date Genus Edition is what you've been waiting for. "Which Tory boy inspiration did Harry Enfield say has, 'a revolting greasy head of hair, disgusting pudgy nose and no discernible chin'? (Michael Portillo)"

The rules and objectives of the Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition are basically the same as for the original Trivial Pursuit we all loved nearly 20 years ago. It is still the ultimate adult party game to test and show off your general knowledge. The categories of questions are the same: Geography, Entertainment, History, Arts & Literature,. Science & Nature and Sport & Leisure. Yet the questions in each category are much more current than their predecessors. "What is the colour of the bottom of the Macintosh apple?" (Blue)

At times this more current context may give an impression of dumbing down Trivial Pursuit but in reality it is simply that the questions are more relevant to today's generation. "Which magazine was first produced in the room where Willie Rushton was born?" (Private Eye)

The game includes a game board, 400 question and answer cards, two cardholders, one dice, six scoring tokens and 36 coloured wedges.

For two to six players or teams. The Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition is the classic party game to be enjoyed with friends and family.--Victoria Mackenzie

Customer Reviews of Trivial Pursuit Genus

Branniganvendetta
Liverpool
10th October 2008

Contact hasbro/mb and make a difference
I rang hasbro when they redesigned the trivial pursuit board to complain about what they'd done and was told that customers liked the new version and that there would be no going back.

I can see that no no one else likes it either but putting the reviews on amazon obviously aren't sufficient.

If you love triv like I do then please email hasbro/mb customer services and let them know what a balls up they've made!

'CustomerService@HasbroToyShop.co.uk'

Mary Ann Evans
Oxford, UK
11th August 2008

Crass and excessively trivial
I played the game twice, and had to end the second game early because the questions became so irritating. The non-entertainment questions are dominated by TV, celebrities and brand-names. The Beckhams seemed to reappear every few cards.

As other reviewers have noted, the question set is repetitive, and in the course of two games some rather surprising patterns emerged. We came across 11 cards with answers involving contraceptives, including 2 with the answer "Durex". Viagra also received a few mentions. Such a marked pattern surely warrants a conspiracy theory - are Hasbro being sponsored by Durex? (Most of the 'Durex/Viagra' type questions were in the Science and Nature category - the question-setters evidently think science and the natural world are so boring and rubbish that they have to make all the science questions relate to sex or celebrity.)

One of the condom-related questions struck me for a different reason:

"Q. What did Ugandan athletes protest were too small at the Sidney Olympics?

A. Condoms."

In good taste, no? This 'fact' sounds like it comes from a tabloid news story with a tenuous factual basis, and a web search/Google books search didn't yield any references to this occurrence. Instead, I did find out a lot about the controversiality of condom use in Uganda, where an abstinence-only, anti-condom message is contributing to AIDS deaths. You can see why I think the TP question is crass, at best.

African countries rarely come up in questions, and Uganda doesn't come out of it very well - two other questions refer 'humorously' to Idi Amin. The question-writers presumably have access to plenty of information sources from which to construct factual questions about African countries, but instead chose to include a significant proportion of 'joke' questions that reinforce horrible stereotypes. I realize that TP questions have to refer to more-or-less general knowledge, but is it really the case that British general knowledge about Africa is limited to stereotypes about genital size and cannibalistic dictators?

M. Gordon
Newcastle, England
17th December 2006

They've ruined it! Rip-off, dumbed down version of a former classic
Back in the 1980s, Trivial Pursuit had one major thing going for it - it came complete with thousands upon thousands of high-quality, challenging trivia questions, which made for many hours of fun with no risk of coming across the same question twice. Crucially, once all of the questions had been used up, it was possible to buy add-on boxes containing thousands more questions.

Upon opening this new edition, one thing is immediately apparent. There are far fewer questions - only 2400 in fact, compared to the 6000 or so questions that came with the original 80s version. (Because each card contains 6 questions, there are only 400 cards, so pretty soon you'll be encountering the same questions again.) When you come to actually play the game, further disappointment awaits; although the questions are up-to-date and include recent events, they are dumbed down, badly written, and are of significantly lower quality than the originals. They have clearly been done on the cheap, and it shows. One particularly unwelcome addition is the presence of "showbiz/celebrity" type questions in the more serious categories, some of which are so inane one is forced to conclude the question compilers were taking the mickey.

Not only that, the bumper-sized add-on boxes have been done away with too. Instead, there are now rip-off "bite size" editions with just 100 cards apiece, enough for perhaps two or three games at most. I for one object to paying £7.99 for 600 questions of the same poor quality as one can find in a 99p quiz book.

An even less forgivable change is the board redesign which allows players to potentially jump from pie to pie with a single dice throw. This makes for far shorter games, perhaps in an attempt to disguise the lower number of questions.

I cannot honestly recommend this set to existing Trivial Pursuit buffs. In the absence of anything better, I suggest you continue to use your old cards, with the risk that outdated questions will crop up often. If you've never played Trivial Pursuit before, I don't think this set will convert you. Everything which made Trivial Pursuit such a success in the first place has been stripped down or removed.

Enterprising third parties may care to note that there is a big gap in the market for an up-to-date question set with the quality and depth of the old Genus and Genus II editions from the 80s. I actually went and dug out the old card sets in case my memory was cheating me, but no - they are just as taxing as I remember them.

Elizabeth Jackson
London, UK
30th October 2006

Only 6 Spaces between Pie Spaces
Trivial Pursuit as it always was, but with one major flaw - There are only 6 spaces between Pie Spaces. Which means you can go from one pie space to another with a single throw of the dice. For some that might not matter, but for me it significanly impacts the game. Purists - go and find an old one somewhere!

Sabellius Grunt
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire United Kingdom
3rd September 2006

Trivial in name...
For the first time, Trivial Pursuit lives up to its title. The question compilers had clearly decided early on that the appropriate reference source for this edition was Heat Magazine. Thus, Arnold Swartzenegger becoming the first owner of a commercial HumVee is considered a Science and Nature Question. Even interesting points, such as Mozart composing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, are based on inaccurate and disproven rumour. Having just spent a week playing the original version in the Highlands, it was a huge disappointment to play this version. Every player should not be able to put together runs of six of seven correct anwers in TP! Please re-release the original!