Trivia games have seemingly never gone out of board game vogue. Trivial Pursuit—created by two journalists with a penchant for drinking beer and playing Scrabble—has been around since 1979. And it’s still a game night staple—though, mercifully, the pop culture references are regularly updated such that the Gen Z-ers can enjoy it just as much as the Boomers. Trivial Pursuit, while still an important entertainment source, now has competition as Hasbro and other gaming companies tap into what it is Americans love about trivia, from the competitive aspect to the demonstrable knowledge required to come out a victor. Here are seven of our favorite trivia games for a fun night in.
Blank Slate
Blank Slate is trivia, though not in the traditional sense. You’re still guessing the universal answer to a question, but with some specifications. Each player gets a miniature white board and dry erase marker. There are 250 cue cards, prompting players to fill in the blank with the first word that comes to mind. The person who has an answer that matches one other person’s—and only one other person’s—gets the most points in a given round.
To buy: Target.com, $24.99
Wit’s End
Wit’s End is an amalgamation of trivia, brain teasers, and riddles—with a healthy dose of competition. There are various categories, like “teasers,” “sequence,” “wild card,” and “odd-1-out.” In the sequence category, players put the prompts in order (for example, ordering cultural or historical events by year), and in odd-1-out, you identify which of four options doesn’t belong.
To buy: Amazon.com, $36.95
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit comes with no fewer than 2,400 trivia questions and that classic, retro-style board. One of the most famous Hasbro games of all time, each card features six categories: history, entertainment, geography, arts and literature, science and nature, and sports and leisure. Whether you’re looking to put your knowledge to the test after a years-long trivia hiatus, or you’ve never played before and want to see what the fuss is about, Trivial Pursuit really is a must-have for your budding game collection.
To buy: Amazon.com, $24.95
Loaded Questions
Loaded Questions is a perfect game to play with a close group of friends or your tight-knit family. It really does test how well you know all the people playing, so we wouldn’t recommend playing with four best friends and one new-to-the-group significant other. The whole group answers a prompt, and the object of the game is to guess who gave each answer.
To buy: Target.com, $18.49
Anomia
Three to six players face off in Anomia, which comes with 425 categories across six decks. The card-based trivia game starts with everyone drawing a card—those with matching cards go head-to-head. The aim is to give an example of whatever your card represents (for example, if it’s a picture of dog food, you might have to name a dog food brand) before the other person does. Careful: this game can heat up quickly.
To buy: Target.com, $24.99
Smart Ass
Excuse our French, but Smart Ass really is a game to have in your at-home trivia game collection. It’s really a game geared toward the know-it-all of the family or friend group, because the person that pipes up first with the answer rounds up the points. As Amazon puts it, “Be the first to answer Who, What, and Where Am I questions, and move closer to being the ultimate Smart Ass.”
To buy: Amazon.com, $19.29
iKNOW
This trivia game is perfect for the poker players in the family, because there’s a betting aspect in addition to guesswork and strategy. While you won’t have to ante up, you’ll have to use your know-how to get the question right—or make an educated guess and bet on the answer. iKNOW is for two to six players and includes 1,600 question cards, each of which have three clues (for a total of 4,800 clues).
To buy: Amazon.com, $19.09
