Continuing the recent trend of card and board games with irreverent senses of humor (counting among its ranks the excellent Killer Bunnies and Nuclear War, among others) is Jeezle Pete's' bold first outing into the genre, called Triviathon. Although the game's core derives from a true classic (Trivial Pursuit), it takes more than enough chances and puts strong twists on that older formula. The result is an incredibly fun offering that makes players chuckle and think at the same time.
Players choose one of about a dozen uniquely mirthful identities, such as the Cheerleader or the Whiz, each which its own special ability, with the ultimate goal of making it around the board first by answering trivia questions. But in Triviathon, you don't have to actually know the answer to achieve progress. Each question simply has players choose one of four options, to which a number or a color on the board applies as both the true "answer" and the progress earned if that option is chosen. For instance, if a card reads "How many spaces do you want to move?" and a player picks the option that reads "The number under par if you shoot an albatross playing golf," that player moves forward three spaces (the best possible), because an albatross represents three under par. Each card grants the possibility of moving one, two, or three spaces, or none at all.
While this clever system rewards you for making the strongest educated guess you can, the player identities and some special yellow board spaces reward physicality, too, as well as one's willingness to get a little goofy. There's nothing quite like watching "The Bully" arm-wrestle his or her opponents to gain bonuses, or laughing at friends who have to walk outside and yell "Triviathon is the greatest game in the world!!" at the top of their lungs, just to avoid a penalty. Huge kudos go to Triviathon's designers for daring to think this far outside the box.
Triviathon really is quite close to being a flawless game. Some children may not have the knowledge required for the more obscure questions, but this problem is solved by teaming with an adult. This reviewer's only (tiny) complaints are that the game could use just a few more question cards, and a suggestion to get rid of the "Sore Loser" identity, which merely allows a player to declare him- or herself co-winner at the end, without granting a "real" benefit in-game. All the other direct jokes have an in-game effect, so my observation is merely for consistency's sake.
These two elements are easily overlooked, and so Triviathon earns my Award for Excellence in Game Design! I highly recommend it for any game enthusiast or family. Triviathon retails in stores and online for about $30.
Links to other recent reviews of such games as Serpentiles, Wise Alec, Yamodo!, and Pentago can be found here. Have fun, and never lose that competitive spirit!
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