Hasbro Launches AI-Powered Version Of Trivial Pursuit Game

Toy maker Hasbro
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is hoping to attract new fans to its Trivial Pursuit game with an online version that uses AI to generate questions based on players’ interests and suggestions.

Trivial Pursuit Infinite was released online today at www.trivialpursuit.com and it has two play modes – a daily challenge with typical Trivial Pursuit questions and an “infinite” mode in which players can ask for questions about any topic.

Toy manufacturers increasingly have been embracing AI, and not just as a way to create talking robots or toys that can learn tricks. They also are using it to add a new element to classic toys.

Mattel
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in September released Pictionary AI, in which an AI-powered app on a smartphone, instead of a human player, guesses what someone has drawn.

With Trivial Pursuit Infinite, Hasbro says it is looking to give fans old and new more ways to connect with the 41-year-old game.

Taking Gameplay Into A New Era

The digital version “takes Trivial Pursuit into a new era through generative AI,” while “making the game more accessible for fans to enjoy everywhere they are and on-the-go,” said Gray Bright, vice-president of artificial intelligence and gaming innovation at Hasbro.

Hasbro has been “invested in trying to understand how to effectively and ethically use artificial intelligence to help create great things for our players for over a year,” Bright said. Trivial Pursuit was invented in 2023, and Hasbro was able to go from prototype to release within three months,” Bright said.

“We’re eager to get the game in front of players, so we can learn from them,” Bright said, noting that after each question players will be asked for feedback that will help improve the gameplay.

The digital game is being offered for free, but will include a buy now button that will link players to an Amazon
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page selling physical versions of the Trivial Pursuit game, including the classic edition, as well as some of the themed editions, such as the Friends edition or the Harry Potter edition.

Party Game Phenomenon

Trivial Pursuit became a party game phenomenon in the mid-1980s after getting off to a slow start when it debuted at the 1982 New York toy fair. Over 20 million copies of the game were sold in 1984.

The game, which requires players to answer trivia questions to advance on the board, was created by four Canadian friends, Scott Abbott, Chris Haney, John Haney, and Ed Werner. Parker Brothers acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to the game in 1988, and Hasbro took over the game when it acquired Parker Brothers in 1992.

Bright said Hasbro plans to regularly add new features to Trivial Pursuit Infinite. Players can play the Daily Challenge once per day and play infinite mode up to three times per day.

The game includes a feature found on Wordle, Spelling Bee and the other popular digital games offered to New York Times
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subscribers – the ability to share one’s results with friends.

This fall, Hasbro experimented with an AI-enhanced online game, offering an AI-powered Ouija board for a short period around Halloween. Players could ask the board questions and generative AI would create the answers. That game “saw great success,” Bright said, indicating that additional AI-enhancements to Hasbro’s game portfolio are likely.

“These are still early days for using generative AI to augment the work of game designers,” Bright said. “At Hasbro we believe that human creators are at the heart of making great games and that new tools like generative AI can help unleash creators’ imaginations and help deliver brand new experiences that players will love.”

“We’re excited for players and creators around the world to help us explore this new frontier,” Bright said.