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Players: 4-20 players or teams (ages 10+)
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes
Some people are Triviaphiles. These people have all kinds of useless knowledge about obscure sports and 18th-century inventions and rare animals. And they keep this knowledge away, in the back of their brains, just waiting for the right game of Trivial Pursuit.
Other people, however, are Triviaphobes. They’re the people who shy away from playing trivia games (especially when Triviaphiles are around) because they fear that their general lack of knowledge about miscellaneous minutiae might make them look stupid.
Fortunately, though, there’s a game that even Triviaphobes can play without fear of total humiliation. It’s called Wits & Wagers.
Wits & Wagers is a trivia game for Triviaphiles and Triviaphobes alike—because even if you lack that trivial knowledge, you’ve still got a great chance of winning—as long as you can guess and place a few wise bets.
At the beginning of the game, each player (or team) gets two Wits & Wagers chips. One player is selected as the question reader and banker—and he or she may choose to play along or focus solely on hosting duties.
The game is then played in seven rounds. At the beginning of each round, the reader asks a trivia question and flips the sand timer. Players then have 30 seconds to come up with a numeric answer to the question and write it on their answer card. Once time is up, players place their guesses on the green betting mat. They’re arranged in order, from the smallest number to the largest. Players then have another 30 seconds to use their chips to place bets the answer (or answers) that they think is the closest to the actual answer without going over.
After the bets are in, the reader reads the correct answer and gives three chips to the player (or players) whose answer comes the closest. He or she then awards additional chips to the players who bet on the right answer.
After seven rounds, the player with the most chips is declared the winner.
You don’t have to be a trivia buff to win a game of Wits & Wagers—and that makes it less intimidating for Triviaphobes. Since all of the questions are challenging, the playing field is pretty even. Really, the correct answer is anybody’s guess. And as long as you dare to bet heavily on the Triviaphiles, you can still win—even if you have no clue as to the length of the average anteater’s tongue.
Since it’s quick to learn and easy to play, Wits & Wagers makes a great party game for groups of any size. Even younger players will have fun joining in—like my six-year-old niece, who led my team to near victory, and my 10-year-old nephew, who’s pretty sure it’s the best game ever.
Whether the crowd at your next party is filled with Triviaphiles, Triviaphobes, or a mix of both, this trivia game for the trivially challenged is sure to be a hit.
