Trivia Fever

My parents owned and operated a small computer store in the mid-80s, Yukon Software. I didn’t get to bring a lot of software home from the store, but one program I ended up with was Trivia Fever.

I’ve posted this picture before. That’s me in the mid-80s, wearing a Miami Vice knock-off jacket with a Footloose-esque spike hairdo. That’s my original Commodore 64 I’m posing with, the one I still have and use today. Right behind my Commodore computer is a blue box that reads Trivia Fever.

Trivial Pursuit debuted in 1979 and, according to Wikipedia, peaked in 1984. By then there were tons of knock-off trivia games and all of them worked essentially the same way. Players moved around a board and answered trivia questions from different categories gaining pieces to represent those categories. Trivia Fever was just one of many Trivial Pursuit clones of the day.

The only uniqueness to Trivial Fever, if it had any, was that it was a computer game that could be played with or without a computer. Not only did the rather large box contain a floppy disk, but it also came with a book full of trivia questions, score cards, a rule book and a spinner. Essentially you got two games for the price of one with your purchase.

I have no idea what happened to my original copy of Trivia Fever.

Many years ago — at least ten, maybe more — I found a copy of Trivia Fever in a thrift store. This copy is for Apple II computers, as you can see on the round foil sticker. It seems to be that the game retailed for $30, so that $5 rebate was substantial. When I bought this copy the box was taped shut and I’ve never opened it. I have no interest in playing Trivia Fever. I just wanted the box to put next to my Commodore computer. I just wish it were the Commodore version.

A couple of weeks ago, I found a second copy.

A Commodore version! And the best I can tell, this copy was never played.

The disk, book, scorecards, and everything else appear to be untouched. It all has that new game feel and smell. The spine of the book isn’t creased or cracked. None of the scorecards have been used or peeled off and the floppy disk doesn’t appear to have ever been removed from its sleeve. It’s as if whoever ended up with this copy of Trivia Fever did not have a case of trivia fever.

My favorite item from inside the box is that pink slip of paper, labelled “Important Customer Note”.

In a time of lawn darts it seems overkill to warn people about the dangers of passing a small piece of cardboard between friends. I do like the addition of the phrase “as with any other materials,” so players know that along with the small cardboard spinner, the book, disk, and box itself should also not be thrown at your friends. Unless you’re losing… then all bets are off.

Ask me why I need to own two copies of this game and I’ll ask you why you think I need to own one. When I suggested the kids might like to try this version I was reminded that the kids have Trivial Pursuit on their iPads.

I’ll bet that version doesn’t come with a small piece of paper reminding gamers not to throw their iPads at one another.