I’m Intimidated By Hard Trivia Games, Aren’t You?

I am a game inventor. Sometimes inventing a game requires perspiration. Sometimes it leaps from inspiration. Crafting a Cultural Trivia game for Baby Boomers demands both.

Whenever I start to design a new game I focus my game plan (no pun intended) on the single most important element: FUN. My goal is to create an experience so universal that anyone who plays it will smile, and laugh, and have a good time.

Until now I have avoided designing trivia board games because too often fun takes a back seat. Everyone thinks trivia has to be really hard. But people don’t want to feel embarrassed. Sure, playing with hard pop culture trivia might feel good to really smart players who get to show off. But the majority of us feel awkward and intimidated. Where’s the fun in that?

So I waited all these years before inventing a boomer trivia board game. I’m supposed to be good at this – but I knew that for trivia to be fun it had to be universal. Fun for everyone – not just the smart guys.  And just making the questions really easy has never been satisfying. It’s like drinking watered down beer.

Then came the “aha” moment when I tilted my head and looked at the problem of “fun trivia” from a different angle. I just needed to change the definition of “universal.” The universe is too huge. It cannot be wrestled to the ground. What if I could find a smaller universe?

Turns out I am a card-carrying member of a still really big smaller universe called The Baby Boom. We’ve lived this incredible journey, all shared the same experiences, and all carry a deep satchel full of our own pop culture memories – literally, Baby Boom Cultural Trivia.

Here’s what inspired my change of heart:

It began with that happy “aha” moment I mentioned. (Followed by roughly four years of heavy lifting.)

While talking about how many memories a smart phone can hold, someone said, “Yeah, but it can’t hold a rabbit’s foot!” And that moment turned on the light bulb that set Boom Again in motion.

As a kid I had a cigar box full of cool “stuff.” There was at least one prize from Cracker Jack, some long woven tube gizmo that your fingers would get stuck in, that “dirty” pen that would undress the lady if you tipped it over, and of course a rabbit’s foot. Totally cool stuff. There was a busted Pez dispenser, a skate key, a piece of Bazooka Bubble Gum, a single random jack, and the coolest mica rock any kid ever had. Totally random. And very, very valuable!

Eventually, that box full of fun “stuff” got too full. At some point it broke, and I moved on. Most of that fun “stuff” disappeared from my possession.

 But my memory of it remained. I had no particular reason to think about any of that “stuff,” but it was inside my memory, and inside my very soul. The slightest nudge of a reminder would allow it to burble up to the top of my mind. Just thinking about that rabbit’s foot made me smile.

Sure enough, mentioning a Pez dispenser or a Cracker Jack surprise kick-started my friends into their memories. And theirs shook loose more of mine. In no time at all, it went from the “stuff,” to the common experiences we shared. And there were so many fun memories. So much laughter.

Memories, smiling and laughter. That doesn’t sound intimidating or hard to me. To me it sounded like the perfect combination of elements for a great trivia game.

As we physically built our Baby Boomer Cultural Trivia game, the test plays were filled with singing, and laughter, and astonishment at being able to remember things from so long ago. Somehow they were fresh. And FUN!

The questions could just as easily have sprung from your memories. But I am a game inventor, and this game effectively leapt out of my childhood cigar box.

Turns out my fellow Baby Boomers have that same basic stash.

 

– Brian Hersch