How to Play Trivial Pursuit

Setup

Objective

Trivial Pursuit is a knowledge-based board game where players move around the board, answering trivia questions from six different categories until they’ve collected all six wedges corresponding by color to these categories. Then, the first player to reach the hexagonal hub located at the center, and to correctly answer the final question chosen by other team players wins the game.

Gameplay

Select a player to go first by having each player roll the die. The person with the highest score goes first, starting at the center of the board, and moving down the spokes over to the circular track surrounding it. You can move either clockwise or counter-clockwise along the track.

During the first turn, players will roll the die and select which color/category they want to land on and which of the six spokes they’ll move down towards. Rolling a six will land on a category headquarters, meaning the player can aim to collect a wedge of that color by answering the question correctly. You can only claim a wedge by knowing the answer to a question while in a category headquarter. The color you land on will determine the category of question you’ll answer. The correct answers can be found on the flipside of the card.

If you answer your first question correctly, you will roll the die again, move the corresponding number of spaces, and answer another question.  Once done with the question, players will slide the card box at the back of the box behind as the last card in the pack.

There are six categories in total: 

• Blue for People & Places
• Pink for Arts & Entertainment
• Yellow for History
• Brown for Science & Nature
• Green for Sports & Leisure
• Orange for Wild Card
  

Note that you can select the direction you move in, but you can’t move both forward and back on the spoke or on the track in the same turn. You can also move through the central hub while playing, if you land on it, you get to choose the category of questions.

If you answer incorrectly, the player on your left goes next. If you land on a “Roll Again” space, you will continue playing by rolling again.

Once players have collected all wedges in each color, they can start aiming to land for the hub by exact count and answer the game-winning question. After landing on the hub with the exact die count, other players will select the final question from the next card in the box. If the answer is correct, the player wins the game. If not, they must leave the hub on the next turn and try to land on it again.

Endgame

A game of Trivial Pursuit comes to an end once a player with all six wedges has reached the hexagonal hub and knows the correct answer to the final question.

Trivial Pursuit Strategy & Tips

• Keep track of which categories you and other players haven’t collected yet, and aim to be the first to collect all.
• Use your “Wild Card” wisely. Choose a category that you know a lot about or choose a category that you think your opponents might not be great at.
• Try landing on “Category Choice” spaces when you are aiming to collect a certain wedge.

Trivial Pursuit Example

Let’s walk through a typical Trivial Pursuit game play with three players.

• Three players gather around the Trivial Pursuit game board.
• Each player or team selects a token and places it at the hexagonal hub.
• Question cards are shuffled and placed in the card holder.
• Everyone rolls the die and the highest number goes first.
• Player one rolls the dice, rolling a 3.
• Player one moves their game piece three spaces clockwise on the board.
• Player one lands on a green space, i.e. the Geography category.
• Player one gets asked the question: “What is the capital of France?”
• Player one responds “Paris” and it is correct.
• Player one gets to collect the green Geography wedge and slots it in their game piece.
• Player one continues their turn by rolling the dice again and moving their game piece. They land on a History space and answer the question incorrectly, so the player on their left goes next.
• Player two rolls and lands on a “Roll Again” space, meaning they’ll take another turn.
• Player three lands on a “Lose “a Turn space and so they have to skip the next turn.
• The game keeps going until one of the players, in this case, player three collects all six wedges from each category.
• Player three returns to the center of the board, answers correctly, and wins the game.

FAQs

How many people can play?

You can play Trivial Pursuit with up to 24 players. In this case, players form teams and answer questions collectively.

How to make a game of  Trivial Pursuit faster?

You can decide that players can aim for the final hexagon hub question with fewer than six wedges, for example, five or four.

What if you land on a color you already collected?

You’ll treat it as a regular space and answer the question as usual.