Learn How to Play Trivial Pursuit – Genius Rules
Reading the rules of any game is a pain. This How to Play Trivial Pursuit – Genius rules guide hopes to make it easier for players to get the concise instructions and start their game quickly.
If you are looking for a quick concise overview of Trivial Pursuit – Genius and what makes it fun, click here.
Players: 2 to 24 | Game duration from: 90 mins | Game Complexity: EASY
If you would like to view the official published rulebook, follow this link: Trivial Pursuit: Genus Edition rules pdf / rulebook
What is the goal?
Players move along the circular track and the spokes, correctly answering questions and collecting colored wedges for correctly answering questions in each of the six categories ”headquarters” (at the base of each spoke).
Game setup
- Choose one token and six scoring wedges, one for each of the six categories
- Roll the dice the highest roller starts first
- On the board, players begin at the center hexagonal hub and move down one of the spokes until they reach the circular track.
- Play moves clockwise or counterclockwise around the track.
Gameplay
First Turn
- Choose the color/category you want to land on and which spoke you’ll move down on your first turn and roll the die.
- You will land on a category headquarters and try for a wedge of that color if you roll a 6.
- When you land on a color, another player will pose a question from that category to you:
- The other player draws the first card from either box and reads the question beside the corresponding colored oval.
- The answers are located on the reverse side of each card. Once you have completed the question, please place the card at the back of the box, behind the remaining cards.
- If you answer your first question correctly, continue your turn by rolling the die again and moving that number of spaces.
Things to take note
- You can select the direction you want to move along the track
- You cannot move both forward and backward on the track (or on a spoke) in the same move.
- You must move the number of spaces shown on the die.
- If you answer incorrectly, play passes to the player on your left.
Subsequent Turns
- Put a colored wedge in your token whenever you answer a category headquarters question correctly.
- If you answer incorrectly, move out of that category headquarters for the next question before you can try again for that color piece. You may move on to another category and return to that one later.
The track has 12 “Roll again” spaces. After landing on one, roll the die again and continue your turn.
NOTE:
It is possible to have any number of tokens in the same space.
Moving through the Hub:
You may cut across the board by moving your token up the spokes to the center hub and out again, moving either straight across the hub, or ”turning” and going down another spoke.
If you land exactly in the hub-but you cannot win the game because you still do not have all six color wedges-you may pick any category you like for your question.
How to win?
- After collecting one scoring wedge in each color, head to the hub and answer the game-winning question.
- Land in the hub by exact count; if you overshoot the hub, move down the spoke and answer the question on the spoke you land on; then, on your next move, try to hit the hub again by exact count.
- If you hit the hub, the other players choose the category of the winning question from the next card. Answer the question correctly, and you win!
- Answer it incorrectly and you wait for your next turn to leave the hub, answer a question and then re-enter the hub again-by exact count-for another question.
It is possible for one player to move around the board and collect all six scoring wedges, then move into the hub and win the game.
happens, any player who has not yet had a tum is permitted a chance to duplicate the feat and create a tie,
Game variation for a shorter game
Instead of collecting all 6 wedges, you can decide with the rest to only collect just 4 or 5.
Notes on play
- Players collectively decide maximum time a person has to answer questions
- Making a guess is better than not answering
- You can form teams and play