Long before the internet existed, the first book about trivia, titled appropriately “Trivia” was published in 1966. The incredible success of trivia books and quiz shows led up to the marketing of Trivial Pursuit, in the early 1980's.
In the early 50’s television was beginning to pop up in homes all across America. Shows like the $64,000 Question, Twenty-One and Beat the Clock began to entertain the American household. Americans tuned in to quiz shows, drawn in by the large cash prizes. Between 1956 and 1958, it began to emerge that many of these popular quiz shows had been rigged. Quiz and game shows disappeared for awhile.
In 1964 the introduction of Jeopardy helped to bring back game shows, and restore the American people's trust. Rigid new rules for contestants and limits on prize money guaranteed that the winners would win fairly.
The most popular board game ever created and the most popular television game show ever created were both based on trivia -- and it's no surprise why! Trivia entertains, challenges, and enlightens, all at the same time.
Then along came the internet. One trivia site I recently visited claims to have been operational since 1994! Trivia is simply booming on the internet. While online you can play all kinds of games, take part in countless quizzes, or laugh out loud with jokes. Some sites have software you can use to create custom trivia tournaments for special events, or your friends, family, or even for your website.
Some of the more popular trivia game sites are set up so you can earn things like points and badges for winning a certain number of games etc. Usually the points are for "fun" and comparison purposes only. Usually they cannot be turned in for prizes or for money. Some badges, require a lot of effort and dedication to earn, and others are a little easier.
Trivia games are not the only kind of games to be found, others include flash games, board games, adventure games, action games, and much more. There are games that take week-long battles to win, and timed games lasting only minutes. One trivia site claims it has over 1,000,000 trivia questions in 10,000 categories, created by over 30,000 different visitors to this site, from over 100 countries around the world. Over 1.4 million registered members and 6,000,000 guests have played a quiz.
Membership to most of the trivia game playing sites is free, and as a member you may play and create games, participate in forums, download software and utilize other services. However, most sites have a paid membership as well, and with the paid membership you don’t have to put up with the advertisements and stuff that the free members must endure, and your interactive game play will be faster. Usually there are other perks as well. There are even trivia websites where you can play for real money.
Some quizzes are multiple-choice format, some true/false, and others will are fill in the blank. The game sites record your scores and let you know how you are doing in relation to players who signed up at approximately the same time as you. Creating trivia games is pretty easy with the software on the game sites. Usually there are editors who will check over your games and quizzes and after a few days it appears online for people all over the world to play. It’s pretty cool.
Online you can create and play quizzes, do crossword puzzles, play picture puzzles, go on treasure hunts, and do brain teasers. There are games for children, forums, chat rooms, and tournaments. You will find action games, adventure games, mazes, number games and more. There are even multi-player interactive games you can participate in. You should have no problem finding all of this entertainment, just search for trivia at your favorite search engine and go explore the amazing world of online trivia for yourself.