Trivial Pursuit - Digital Choice edition product reviews

Having played almost every possible variant on the TP theme, it was interesting to see this little twist. Gone are the packs of cards that eventually outdate once everyone has played a few dozen games. Gone are the cards that become dog-eared and worn, torn and scuffed. Welcome to the 21st century, and a dinky little unit about 14cm wide by 8cm high and 4cm thick, looking more-than-a-little like a blinged-up PSP.

Being someone who's head seems to store trivia like a sponge, the stardard card packs are a waste of moneyt for me, because after maybe half a dozen games, I am usually well on my way to winning the pie pieces with monotonous regularity, much to the great annoyance of the other players. So now they get a more even chance, because as soon as the questions are 'easy to recall' it's time to just dump them off and load in new ones!

Now, loading in more questions... it is VITAL that you follow the directions properly otherwise you get all sorts of connection errors. Oh yeah, also making sure you have put in some good quality batteries helps, because low battery makes for bad connection to the PC too. However, once you have mastered the arcane art of reading the manual first, and have successfully gotten the unit talking to the website, the rest is a breeze. Select your category, choose interesting subcetegory(-ies) and add them to your cart. When you are done, go to the cart and select download, then add them to your handheld. OK, maybe it's not 'a breeze' after all... but it is pretty straight-forward.

Playing the game is pretty standard, but instead of selecting a card, you use the handheld. Again, practice the arcane arts and read the manual at least twice, and practice a few times before the guests arrive, to avoid embarassing "OK, bear with me here guys, I need to push this button first, erm, ok, maybe this one?" interludes.

Overall, quite a neat little twist to a classic favourite... and though it's a little pricey up front, consider than you will have be able to pick and choose from what will, I am sure, amount to an equivalent of many hundreds of dollars worth of question packs in the future. However, if for no other reason, this version has won my heart with a simple, common-sense but way overdue, alteration to the scoring wedges... they now has a neat extra 'cap' added to them that makes it utterly impossible to put in upside down, round the wrong way, or wedged in so tight you'll never get them out. About time, well done!