Trivial PursuitRules, editions & buying guide

What Trivial Pursuit is

Trivial Pursuit is a general-knowledge trivia board game where you race around a wheel-shaped board answering questions in six categories. The goal is to collect one colored wedge from each category, return to the center, and answer one final question your opponents choose. It was created in Montreal in December 1979 by Chris Haney, a photo editor at The Gazette, and Scott Abbott, a sports editor at The Canadian Press. Hasbro owns and publishes it today.

The current Classic Edition keeps the original six categories: Geography, Entertainment, History, Art & Literature, Science & Nature, and Sports & Leisure. Hasbro describes it as classic gameplay with a retro 1980s look.

What's in the box

The Classic Edition (Hasbro item C1940) includes:

• 1 game board
• 400 question cards with 2,400 questions in total
• 1 die
• 6 wedge holders (the round "pies")
• 36 wedges, six in each category color

Hasbro rates it for ages 16 and up and 2 to 6 players, or teams.

How to play Trivial Pursuit

These are the official Classic Edition rules, step by step.

1. Set up. Decide whether you're playing as individuals or teams. Each player or team puts an empty wedge holder on the center hub. Pick someone to go first; the rulebook leaves the method up to you.
2. Roll and move. Roll the die and move exactly that many spaces. You can go in either direction, but you can't switch direction partway through a move. The hub counts as one space, so you can cut straight across it or turn down another spoke.
3. Answer a question. The player to your left draws the top card and reads you the question that matches the color of the space you landed on. The card then goes to the bottom of the deck.
4. Regular space: answer correctly and you roll again. Answer wrong and your turn ends.
5. Category headquarters (the big spaces at the end of each spoke): answer correctly and you earn that category's wedge. Answer wrong and your turn ends, and you have to move away before you can try that headquarters again. You can only earn one wedge of each color.
6. Roll Again spaces: roll again right away. You're allowed to reverse direction after one.
7. Landing on the hub early: if you land on the hub by exact count before you have all six wedges, you pick any category to answer. You don't earn a wedge there.
8. Winning. Once you have all six wedges, head back to the hub. On your next turn, your opponents choose the category before the card is drawn. Get it right and you win. Get it wrong and your turn ends; you stay on the hub and try again on later turns, and your opponents may pick the same category or a new one.

Team play is the only official variant: anyone on the team may answer.

The rules people argue about

Do you roll again after a correct answer?

Yes, on a regular space. A correct answer lets you roll again, which is why one player can sometimes sweep halfway around the board.

Do you roll again after winning a wedge?

This is genuinely unclear. The Classic Edition rulebook says to add the wedge but doesn't say whether your turn continues. Many groups treat it like any other correct answer and keep rolling. Agree on a house rule before you start.

Can you move in both directions?

You choose your direction each time you move, but you can't change direction in the middle of a single move. The one exception: you can reverse after landing on a Roll Again space.

Do you have to use your whole roll?

Yes. You must move the full number shown on the die.

Who reads the question?

The player to your left reads it to you.

Who picks the final category?

Your opponents do, before the card is drawn. Expect them to pick your weakest subject.

How to win more often

• Steer toward headquarters. You pick your direction every roll, so always head for a headquarters you still need. Wedges are the only thing that matters.
• Use the hub as a shortcut. It counts as a single space and connects every spoke, so cutting through it is usually the fastest way across the board.
• Land on the hub to choose your category. Before you have all six wedges, an exact landing on the hub lets you answer in your strongest subject and keep your turn going.
• Use Roll Again spaces to change course. They're the only place you can reverse direction mid-turn.
• Plan your loop after a miss. If you miss at a headquarters you must move away before trying again, so position yourself for a short trip back.
• Shore up your weakest category. Your opponents will choose it for your final question.
• In teams, mix your strengths. Anyone on the team can answer, so a team with a sports fan and a literature buff covers more of the board.

Which edition should you buy?

Hasbro and its licensing partners have printed more than 100 editions in different languages. The ones most worth knowing:

• Classic Edition: the original six categories and 2,400 questions. Start here if you want the real thing. Check price
• Family Edition: separate cards for adults and kids, rated for ages 8 and up, so a ten-year-old and a grandparent can play the same game. Check price
• Decades: 2010 to 2020: 1,800 questions on 2010s pop culture in categories like Bingeworthy and Break the Internet. It can be played with the cards alone. Check price
• Horror Ultimate Edition: 1,800 horror-movie questions with six horror categories. It's published by The Op under license, not by Hasbro, and is rated 17+. Check price
• TV editions: licensed versions exist for shows including The Office and Schitt's Creek. See our TV trivia board games guide.

A short history

Haney and Abbott came up with the idea after a game of Scrabble in December 1979 and sketched the board quickly; Wikipedia's account says it took about 45 minutes. John Haney and Ed Werner joined to help finish the game, and the team raised $40,000 from 32 investors. The first 1,100 copies, sold in Canada in 1981, cost about $75 each to make and sold for $15.

Selchow & Righter licensed the game for the United States, where it went on sale in 1983 and became a sensation. Wikipedia reports 20 million units sold by 1986. Parker Brothers took over the license in 1988, and Hasbro, which later absorbed Parker Brothers, bought the full rights in 2008 for $80 million. By 2014 more than 100 million copies had been sold in 26 countries and 17 languages. In 2025 Trivial Pursuit was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.

Alternatives worth considering

• Wits & Wagers: you bet on other players' guesses, so you can win without knowing the answers. Better for mixed groups and parties.
• Timeline: a 15-minute card game where you place events in order. No exact dates needed.
• Hitster: music trivia using a phone app. Great for parties of up to 10.

More board game guides

Prefer to play right now, for free? Read the history of trivia or browse all our free trivia games.