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The partnership between EA and Hasbro, probably instituted for the sake of grabbing as much green out of our wallet as possible before the world collapses in on itself, continues unabated with the recent release of Trivial Pursuit, now currently released for Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3 and PC.

You might think that, once again, I’m wasting time covering a game like this.  After all, you’d think, everyone knows how to play Trivial Pursuit.  And again I say, that not only is this for the benefit of those two or three random people out there who’ve never seen a copy of Trivial Pursuit–and you’d be surprised; they probably do exist– but also because entirely new game modes have been added to this game, and those require discussion.

Of course, the standard mode is fully available to play right from the beginning, in which you and a collection of friends go forth to see who knows the most about the least relevant stuff in a series of different subclasses of knowledge including Arts & Literature, Games and Leisure, and of course, Entertainment.  Your primary goal is to collect six scoring wedges in your round playing piece with six notches capable of holding the wedges. Those of you who refer to the wedges as “pieces of pie” are not alone.

However, there is a new game mode available called “clear the board”.  Designed for the single player, you’re basically out to get as many scoring wedges as possible, and when you collect a wedge, all questions in that category are removed from the board.  Your goal therefore is to do exactly as the game mode is entitled and clear the board.  For each question you get right in a category, the number is added to a multiplier which in turn gives you a higher score for collecting that scoring wedge.  However, time is also a factor, and the faster you clear the board the better.

Once again I find myself bemoaning the lack of online capability with a game like this because it’s entire point is to be played with people.  And there aren’t always people around, so it’s good to have online capability so that you can find people to play with.  While the single player mode is not without its charms, it’s clear that this was meant to be a party game.  And if there is no party, or a party cannot be assembled around it, than the game’s value becomes somewhat limited.

This isn’t, however, to say that there isn’t fun to be had here– it’s just that the fun is somewhat limited when the game is not being used as is clearly intended.  Make no mistake, this is a party game.

There is plenty to like here; the graphics are fun and even single player gameplay is entertaining, plus the purchase price is a downright bargain especially if you’re the kind of gamer who loves to get together for a game.  Especially considering how easy it is to add questions to the game– one downloadable pack is already available full of movie trivia– it’s definitely the kind of game worth talking about if you’re the party gaming sort.

If you don’t get out of the house, however, this is one game that you won’t want to take out of the box.