Board Game Follies

Via Dan Drezner, I find this remarkably silly article by Bryan Curtis on the alleged decline of Trivial Pursuit. Even though the game sells briskly, the author claims that it's receded as a cultural icon. (I can't help but think that this sort of armchair social analysis is what brings us tripe like the "man date.") While it may be true that board games as a whole have become less popular than they were twenty years ago, the death of Trivial Pursuit has been greatly exaggerated.

While specialist editions are sold, there's always been a generalist edition as well; we're now up to Volume 6. And who lets anyone play with access to Google? To win at Trivial Pursuit, the old method of memorizing facts still serves a player well. Though the game is no longer a new pop culture phenomenon as it was in the 1980, it's still going strong on college campuses and family kitchen tables across America. At least it is at my house, where the gauntlet is always laid down and my board always ready for another victim.