After delivering an interesting videogame version of Monopoly a few months ago, Electronic Arts now challenges you to a far more complex task for your brains with Trivial Pursuit, one of the most famous trivia board game in the world.

What can you expect of this videogame version? Here’s our review.

Gameplay

This console version of Trivial Pursuit is as simple as the board game. There are six question categories, each represented by a color: Geography (Blue), Entertainment (Pink), History (Yellow), Art & Literature (Purple), Science & Nature (Green) and Sports & Leisure (Orange). You roll the virtual dice with the thumbstick, you move your puck to a particular category of question represented by a color and answer the question with the help of multiple choice answers. The real Trivial Pursuit game does not feature multiple choice answers but I’m sure you will understand that it’s a videogame adaptation so they had to change it a bit. Rest assure it does not mean that the good answer will be that obvious. Those who played the board game will agree that the questions were not that easy to answer, same applies here. The game will either ask you to pick the right answer from four different plausible answers; it could show you pictures or even put a map and pick the right city or country for Geographical questions. In general, even if it’s a bit different from the real thing, those who have played the board game won’t see many differences on how to play the videogame version.

Electronic Arts offers two interesting modes of play alongside the “Classic” mode which is the standard Trivial Pursuit game as we know it where you can play against three other players, either AI or human players. First, “Clear the Board” is a single player mode in which your objective is to clear the board of category spaces by correctly answering the corresponding questions. Each correct answer removes the space from the board and you win multipliers in that category. You answer wrong, you lose the multiplier. This addictive and challenging mode actually makes go for two different things: either rack the most points for bragging rights through the leaderboards or clear the board as fast as you can. I did spend most of time in there and I’m sure many competitive solo players will have a blast trying to clear the board faster than their friends. The other mode, “Facts & Friends”, is also very interesting. All participants share one puck and compete for as many wedges as possible by answering the question correctly, scoring points towards that particular category wedge. In order to put a competitive and challenging twist, this mode gives the player different ways to either earn or lose points. For example, you can either answer a category space question to earn two points or you can bet on whether or not your friend will answer a category space question correctly. Bonus events that can either increase your chances to win or help your opponents are also part of the game. Basically, if you have friends or family visiting, this mode will sure be more fun than the “Classic” mode.

There are a few other things worth mentioning. The first would be my favourite feature, the auto-save system! Finally I was able to stop my game, save it and pick it up later during the day. A game of Trivial Pursuit could go for hours so developers were wise enough to include this extremely well welcomed option. The second would be the possibility to play different versions of Trivial Pursuit through downloadable content. The first pack called “Movie Pack”, which is available for free, adds hundreds of new questions for the game based on the seventh art. Actually, it doesn’t only add questions but you can play any of the three gameplay modes with only movie related questions. It will be interesting to see if EA will continue to update the game with other packs like this one. I’m already drooling over the idea of a possible “Sports Pack”. Lastly, the game can be played in different languages and I can safely say that no matter on which language you will be playing, Trivial Pursuit is flawless.

Although I applaud the developers for what they brought, I have to throw a few rocks to them for two things. First, online multiplayer is a no-show in here. If games like Buzz! Quiz TV and Scene It? Box Office Smash feature an online mode, there’s no way a game like Trivial Pursuit, probably the most complete and challenging trivia game ever created, doesn’t. It would be the perfect online console-based trivia game on the market if it had. Nonetheless, I’m happy that they didn’t include it if they knew it wouldn’t work because of lag issues or some other technical limitation (PSN’s Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune…I’m looking at your direction!). The second would be on the fact that AI-controlled opponents can’t answer their own questions if you want to play a Classic game. It’s really not a huge thing because if you want to play alone, you can go and play “Clear the Board”. Still, if you really want to play the Classic mode, you will have to answer for the AI if there’s no one else in the same room with you to play.

Graphics & Sounds

In terms of sounds and visuals, the game delivers a great product with a gorgeous presentation and a sharp interface. The game replicates the board game faithfully. For those who love liked to play themselves as animated characters in games like UNO or A Kingdom for Keflings will be happy to know that Avatar support has been built-in into the game. Trivial Pursuit features an announcer. He does not do much and does not add anything special. He makes jokes and encourages you...nothing else.

There’s nothing else to say about the game in this category.

Value

I mentioned earlier, the fact that the game supports downloadable question packs will eventually increase the replayability of the game, which is already pretty huge. And I have played for several hours and to be honest, I haven’t seen much questions coming back. I’m not saying it will never happen but it will depend on how often you will play the game. There’s already a free question pack that you can download but I can’t say if EA will continue to put some freebies after this one. If they don’t, I hope that the price range will not be that high. This console version costs as much as the board game (around 40$) so the price point for this game is great for what it offers.

Conclusion

Since developers and publishers know that the casual gamer is now as important as the hardcore, deliver trivia games on consoles is far from being over. EA has already released Monopoly a few months ago and now offers more board games through Hasbro Family Night on the Xbox Live Arcade platform.

While Scene It? & Buzz! have delivered the first taste of serious trivia games on consoles, Trivial Pursuit pushes the whole concept further by offering the most complete and challenging videogame based of a board game on the market as of now. Yes, even if the game doesn’t support online play, it remains a great game. The cool thing is that through downloadable content, Electronic Arts won’t feel the need to deliver a new Trivial Pursuit 2 right away. That’s said, Trivial Pursuit is a must have in your collection.