Tag: Trivia

UbiUbi
Selchow & Righter, 1986

Now for a blast from the past. Ubi came out in 1986 during the trivia craze from Selchow & Righter, makers of Trivial Pursuit. Today, trivia games are pretty “so-last-year”. They are the kitchy game that gets put out periodically for whatever hot tv/movie commodity is “in” at the time.

Reticle
Reticle

But Ubi was a little different. I picked it up at a second hand store and fell in love with it. I am a history buff, and am not too bad with my geography, and for Ubi, you need both. You are asked a trivia question, usually historically based. Then, using a “Reticle” (see picture), you must locate to a degree of precision, where that answer occurred. Get it correct, and you get a section of your Ubi Pyramid. First person to complete their pyramid wins the game. It comes with a cool map with no names, although it does have city/town/landmark denoations like you would find on any normal map.

I’ll admit, it’s from 1986, so questions may be a bit dated, but since most of them are historical in nature anyway, to me it isn’t a problem. My biggest problem with the game is that no one will play it with me. Like history and geography and have a talent for triva? Give Ubi a whirl. If you can find it.

GeekOutGeek Out!
Playroom, 2013

Want to find out how geeky you are? Think you are the geekiest of them all. Find out with Geek Out! This is a trivia party game for individuals or teams. Simply put, you roll the die to determine the category to be played. Categories are: Games, Comics, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Miscellaneous. There is a blank side on the die, if that is rolled, then the player/team chooses the category they wish to play. There no “correct” answers on the card. Each player/team must bid on how many correct answers they think they can come up with. The highest bidder must then give that many answers to get the card, which is worth one point. If they do not answer the question to the satisfaction of the group, then they receive a -2 penalty chip. The first player or team to 5 points wins.

That is the way the game is officially played. To be honest, every time we play it we start playing the game, but end up reading the question and then everyone answers and discusses until we decide to move on to the next question. We rarely, if ever play for points and don’t usually declare a winner. Does that make our game play a cooperative variant?

The questions are great. This is a great game when you are sitting around and want to start conversations or get a group of people talking about things. It would be great for a convention panel. I’m thinking of reading the question, having attendees bid, and if they complete their quest giving out candy. Fun.

Example question: (This is on the back of the box, so I shouldn’t get in trouble for this…) Four Video Game Companies. How many can you list?

This is a lot of fun, and a great “get-to-know-you” or “party” game. Recommended.