Hobbies Quiz: A Roll of the Dice: 10 Questions | Games & Toys

Answer: Risk

The original version of "Risk" was released in 1959 by Parker Brothers, and there have been many variants and themed versions since that time. In the basic game, there are six continents (no Antarctica) divided into 42 territories and three to six players vie for world dominance.

A player can attack from one territory to a different, connected one, using up to three dice to attack (ensuring that the number of dice used is less than the number of units in the attacking country). The defender may use up to two dice, as long has they have two or more units left.

Bonus units are available at the beginning of each player's turn, depending on territory controlled, to increase the size of the player's total army, otherwise attrition would quickly end the game in a stalemate.

Answer: Trivial Pursuit

"Trivial Pursuit" was released in 1982, and there have been a multitude of different themes and variations since then. The original game was licensed to Selchow and Righter, then later to Parker Brothers (in 1988). Hasbro bought the rights to the game in 2008.

The original game's six categories were: Geography (blue wedge), Entertainment (pink wedge), History (yellow wedge), Art & Literature (brown wedge), Science & Nature (green wedge), and Sports & Leisure (orange wedge). In the course of the game, answering questions correctly earn you another turn, but only certain spaces (one for each category) will earn you a wedge. Once all six wedges are collected, players must go to the centre of the board (the hub) and answer one more question, in a category of their opponents' choice, in order to win the game.

Answer: Backgammon

"Backgammon" is one of the oldest board games known to exist, with records of games in multiple ancient cultures that are believed to be early variants of the modern game as we know it.

As mentioned in the game description, the object of the game is to get your fifteen pieces (that begin on four different points around the 24-point board) off the board. The layout of the points is like a horseshoe, with 12 points on one side, facing 12 on the opposite. Your house is in one of the 6-point halves on your side of the board, with your opponent's house directly opposite. Both you and your adversary move in contrary directions on the horseshoe, trying to get all the pieces off the board first. Any pieces stacked on each other are safe, while pieces alone on a point can be bumped off the board and forced to start over from the back of the opposing player's house.

Answer: The Settlers of Catan

"The Settlers of Catan" was first released in 1995 by Kosmos in Germany as "Die Siedler von Catan", with an English edition quickly following, distributed by Mayfair Games in North America. The game has quickly become one of the best selling strategy board games around, and has spawned multiple expansions and variants.

In the core game, a variable board of hexagonal tiles is created with six different terrain types (forest, pasture, fields, hills, mountains, and desert). Five of those terrains produce resources (lumber, wool, grain, brick, ore), the only exception being the desert.

Players build settlements at the conjunction of three hex tiles, and every time the number associated with one of those tiles is rolled, it produces the corresponding resource. With those resources, one can build more things (roads, settlements, cities, or development cards that give bonus abilities, possible victory points, or soldiers) to expand and get in more resources, until enough points are earned to win the game (10 points in the basic game).

Answer: Aggravation

"Aggravation" was first published in 1960 by CO-5 Company, although it since has come under the Hasbro company Winning Moves. The game is based on the ancient cross and circle game "Pachisi" from India. There are other games that use a similar concept of play, such as "Ludo", "Parcheesi", and "Sorry!".

The game play is pretty much as seen in the description - get your four pieces from your home base around the board, then into your home row. Along the way, opponents (doing the same thing from different starting points) can bump your pieces back to your starting position, just as you can to their pieces.

Answer: Monopoly

"Monopoly" was already around for about 30 years when it was published in the format we all know and love by Parker Brothers in 1935. Meant as a way to demonstrate the negative aspects of monopolies, it was originally called "The Landlord's Game" by its creator, Elizabeth Phillips.

In the game, there are eight property groups of two to three properties (plus four railroads and two utilities) that can be purchased when landed on by a player's token. If a player manages to acquire a complete set of one of those property groups, they receive the ability to develop houses and hotels on those properties, making other players pay increasing dollar amounts if they land on one of the properties. The object of the game is to bankrupt all of the other players.

Answer: Snakes and Ladders

The game of "Snakes and Ladders" originated in India in the 1800s and (as described) is a race game that is based purely on luck. It was originally intended as a lesson on life, where the ladders represent virtues, while the snakes represent one's vices.

Answer: Clue / Cluedo

"Clue" (North America) or "Cluedo" (UK) was first released in 1949, simultaneously in the US and the U.K., albeit with minor differences. For example (apart from the name), in the UK version, the murdered character is named Dr. Black, while in the US version, it's Mr. Boddy.

In game play, the players (one of six characters) move their tokens from room to room in a mansion. Once in a room, the player can declare who they think committed the murder (a character, weapon, and room - pre-selected at random and placed in an envelope). If the next player has a card that disproves that hypothesis, they must show it to the player who made the declaration. If that player can't disprove anything, then the next player has to, et cetera, until someone can, or no one can (thus determining that the declaration was correct, for the win).

Answer: Pictionary

"Pictionary" was first published in 1985 by Angel Games, Inc., but since 1994, has been under the auspices of Hasbro. It is a word guessing game, similar in style to charades, but with drawing pictures instead of pantomiming.

In game play, when a team's token lands on a coloured space on the board, they must take the word on the card that corresponds with that colour. The categories are: Person/Place/Animal (yellow), Object (blue), Action (orange), Difficult (green), and All Play (red). In 'all play', each team must go at the same time, with the winning team getting to take their turn next.

Answer: Balderdash

"Balderdash" was published in 1984 by Canada Games, but eventually came under the control of Hasbro, and then Mattel. Based on the parlor game 'Fictionary', where someone uses a dictionary to come up with an obscure word for everyone to make up a definition for (except for the person who chose the word, who would paraphrase the correct definition), "Balderdash" follows the same basic pattern, except that it provides the words and definitions already on cards.

A point is earned for guessing the correct definition, and if no one guesses right, then the player whose turn it is gets three points. Player tokens are advanced on the game board by the points won in a round, and the first one to reach the end of the path, wins the game.