Trivial Pursuit – Friends the TV Series – Review

Trivial Pursuit - Friends the Tv series - may well be the ultimate Friends TV series general knowledge test. Gather your own friends up and test your knowledge on Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey, Chandler and all of the Friends drama against each other.

“Rules help control the fun.”

Any good board game has a good set of rules behind it. For me, Monica is completely correct in noting that the rules help to control the fun, we gamers thrive on them. This game is no exception here.

Determine who is answering the first question and another player draws the first question card. The player whose turn it is rolls the category die, a D6 made up of each of the classic Trivial Pursuit colours. These colours correspond to the question asked, your categories. The categories are built up from the show's series. So for example, if you roll the green category, you are answering a question based on series 1 & 2.

Like in Trivial Pursuit you need 6 wedges for victory. However there are no wedges within the set. The player answering the question needs to answer the question correctly, to then have a chance at another question and it is this 2nd question if answered correctly that gives you a wedge. The card is kept to symbolise the wedge. If the player keeps answering correctly they keep the run going and gain wedges in the same format already described. So if a player answers 3 questions correctly but fails the 4th, they will have gathered one wedge. When the player answers incorrectly, play passes on clockwise to the next.

“I’m not great at advice, could I interest you in a sarcastic comment?”

The game notes for 2 or more players, no upper limit by all accounts. I would agree with that but keep it sensible. What you will find is all other players will be invested in the questions as they will be testing themselves. No chances for players to earn bonus wedges for when a player gets the question wrong. That feels a real shame for me. Maybe a possible house rule?

The game also notes for 12+. That may be due to content, however, this game is for Friends fans only. It’s trivia on the show, don’t bother playing this game if you have not seen it. That is a top tip.

“How you doin?”

We love this game in our house and it has come out on all sorts of occasions. It has been a real asset as well. The One where our children were born in hospital, both were induced labour births and we had time to kill. It was a perfect companion here as it really took our minds off of the present moment we were in and we needed the laughter. Your mind then floods with happy memories of classic moments that you remember watching. It was brilliant for us here and sticks in our mind because of how good the game is. We were in one of our most challenging moments in our lives and this game helped us through, amazing.

It’s also been a holiday asset as well. A small set that travels on the road well. It is very convenient.

“You're a shoe, you're a shoe, you're a shoe! But what if I don't want to be a shoe anymore? Maybe I'm a purse, or a hat…”

You can do a little bit more with this set. Experiment with the game mechanics and play around with it. Monica may not like that but to add to the social element, play in teams, like when Joey and Chandler took on Monica and Rachel at Ross’s quiz… it can only end well, right? Team play I do feel would elevate the social side of this game, create debate as people try and remember what happened in those iconic episodes.

Or as another idea, use this friend's set to create its own category in a master set of trivial pursuit. Take out one of the other categories to replace with the Friends cards. Everyone would have to agree, but that could be better than a Science round… Sorry Ross.

“We were on a break!”

This, as I said, is a game for anyone who is a Friend's fan. Even those friends you have that insist they don’t like games (it's crazy to think these people exist) will enjoy this game if they have a passion for the beloved sitcom. You want to test yourself and answer those questions. You want to be the one who knows the most obscure knowledge on this show, and there really are obscure questions that test that.

The one point of note though is this is not a game that can be played frequently again and again as you will potentially exhaust those questions. There are plenty but it has a limit. So pick the best and most opportune moments to get the best out of this game.

“They don’t know that we know they know we know”

Well now you do know! Friends Trivial Pursuit is so much fun and a real must for people who love Friends. Lots of laughter, fond memories with your own friends, what more could you want?