Review: Trivial Pursuit

[cjvitek]

(In the interest on keeping some uniformity between reviews, I am adopting the general review "style" of the other two reviewers. Just say I am caving to conformity. If I can ever figure out an easy way to include inline photos like that do, I will do that as well).


Trivial Pursuit from Electronic Arts

Pros:

• lots of question variety
• good import of board game
• multiplayer
• nice graphics

Cons:

• limited multiplayer
• limited to one AI opponent
• some questions seem very easy (with multiple choice)
• no multiple editions

At long last, Trivial Pursuit is here! A while back when I was reviewing a number of the various TV-theme based trivia games, I asked where Trivial Pursuit was. Apparently Electronic Arts read my review, and responded!

Well, not really, but it is fun to think so.

Trivial Pursuit looks the same as the classic board game, with the pie wedges, the same board, the same trivia categories, all complete with nice animations that we have come to expect from Electronic Arts.

When you start the game, you are given a variety of play options: pursuit mode, classic play, wi-fi multiplayer, and pass 'n play. You can also adjust various options including language, vibration, sound levels, tutorials, etc. You can custom your player profile with a specific avatar and other details as well.

The multiplayer option are great to see, but they are limited. You can play a local wi-fi game, if you have someone using the same wi-fi who also has Trivial Pursuit and wants to play a game. You can also do a pass 'n play method - passing the iPhone around to take turns. I would have liked to see some sort of server based game play, but that is probably more time and money that EA wants to invest. It is nice to see the various options, and I hope when the peer-to-peer option becomes available in iPhone 3.0 they will add that as an option as well. The multiplayer modes are limited to 4 players.

A new option called pursuit mode is available when playing. With pursuit mode, your goal is to reach a finish line as quickly as possible by answering as few questions as possible. Once you complete one level, you can move on to more difficult levels. You move faster by answering questions faster, so the real goal is to beat yourself!

The classic play mode is, well, the classic mode. You have the trivial pursuit board and run around trying to complete your puzzle piece pie. When playing against the computer, you are limited to only one opponent. You can also choose to have no opponents, but I don't really see the point of that. You can adjust the opponent level difficulty - it would be nice to be able to choose opponents with specific areas of specialty, but oh well.

One nice feature is that if you leave the game early, your progress is saved so that you can come back and continue to play later. The graphics are very nice, with smooth animations and a nice countdown timer when answering questions (if you have chosen a time limit for answering). While you obviously can't have "free form" answers like you do with regular trivial pursuit, I do wish they had come up with some other solution that simply multiple choice. In some cases, if you have a slight inkling about the answer, the multiple choice aspect makes it easy to choose the correct answer.

The questions seem varied, with ranging degrees of difficulty. When I started to play, I got about 10 questions in a row correct, but they then seemed to get harder. I assume it was simply lucky on my part.

I wish they had included some of the various "sub-genre's" of the game - 90's edition, young players edition, etc. Having those as playing options would widen the appeal and make it more fun. But they are probably waiting to sell those at some future date.

All in all, this is a fun game, nicely programmed and fun to play. I wish multiplerer was more involved, and that you could have more than one AI opponent. The game play is very smooth, and the questions seem to have varied levels of difficulty. At $4.99 the price isn't cheap, but it is worth it if you are looking for a good trivia game. Four and a half out of five stars.

[Snowman]

Thanks for the good reaview. 1 AI player is a real downer, but not a deal breaker for me. The cost isn't too bad so I think I'll give it a try.

[jamesus]

I have tried out the pass and play. Great for long car rides, etc.

[GadgetGuru72]

Thanks for the review. I've been debating whether or not to get this one.

[cjvitek]

Just topping the review, since the app was listed as a top five must have board game.