All A-Board! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Carcassonne

'Meeple' is the unofficial name given to the little person-shaped wooden playing pieces used in 'Carcassonne' - they are actually properly known as 'followers'. Original gameplay involves players taking turns to lay the tiles that form the playing board by matching up city, road or farmland terrains; they can then claim control of one of these features by setting a 'meeple' down on it. Completing a feature results in points being awarded and the return of the meeple for use on another project. At the end of the game (when all tiles have been placed) the player with the most points is declared the winner.

The game was created by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede in Germany and first published in 2000. It has become a worldwide bestseller, with many expansion packs released to widen and lengthen gameplay. Examples include: the 'Inns and Cathedrals' pack which provides extra tiles and more pieces to allow an additional player to compete; the 'Traders and Builders' pack which allows for higher points scores by trading certain types of goods and introduces a pig-shaped 'meeple'; and 'The Catapult' edition which includes (strangely enough) a catapult! Several video game versions have also been introduced including versions for Xbox Live, Nintendo DS and Android phones.

The picture clue shows a view of the actual Carcassonne, while the incorrect options are all other walled towns in France.

Answer: Bruxelles 1893

Bruxelles is the French name for the Belgian capital city, Brussels, that has given its name to the variety of small cabbage shown in the picture clue. 'Bruxelles 1893' is a fairly complex strategy board game in which players compete to obtain the highest score by actions such as adding to their building, buying better quality building materials, creating and selling works of art in the 'Art Exhibition', trading on the stock exchange or obtaining the support of influential patrons.

'Bruxelles 1893' is an example of the 'Eurogame' genre, which is characterised by social interactions between players (generally with all players remaining active throughout the game), economy-related themes and an emphasis on strategy.

The incorrect options do not exist, although the titles are all based on the French names for European capital cities. Nicosie is Nicosia (Cyprus), Vienne is Vienna (Austria) and Londres is London (UK).

Answer: Alhambra

As you can see from the picture clue, the Alhambra is a stunning complex of fortified palaces that was completed in the 14th century by the Islamic Sultans of Granada. In 1492 it was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile following their conquest of the Emirate of Granada. Their youngest daughter, Catherine of Aragon, spent much of her later childhood at the Alhambra before embarking for England to marry firstly Prince Arthur of Wales and then his younger brother King Henry VIII.

In the board game 'Alhambra' each player starts with a single 'Alhambra Tile'. On each turn they can choose to draw a currency card, trade a currency card for a building tile, or add a building tile onto their 'Alhambra'. The size and structure of each player's 'Alhambra' influences their final score, with the player with the highest score being the winner.

The Palace of Versailles, Louvre Palace and Tuileries Palace are all former residences of the French royal family.

Answer: Tigris and Euphrates

'Tigris and Euphrates' uses a board bounded by depictions of the two rivers of the same name, that are still important geographic features of the Middle East. Players take turns to draw tiles, which they can then strategically place on the board in order to build up their control over one of the four categories of civilisation. Interestingly the game forces players to try and build these up equally, as the winner is not the one with the highest total number of points at the end of the game or even the one with the highest number of points in a particular category - in fact the win goes to the player with the highest lowest score across the four categories!

Parts of Mesopotamia were once controlled by the Parthian Empire, the ancient cities of Nineveh and Uruk were located in Mesopotamia and Akitu was a spring festival that continued to be observed into Roman times.

Answer: Scotland Yard

The board included with 'Scotland Yard' provides a detailed map featuring many famous locations found in Central London. One player takes on the role of Mr X, while the remaining players act as police detectives and work as a team to try and figure out Mr X's location. If they make it to the same location as him they capture him and win the game, but if the detectives run out of taxi, tube and bus tickets then he has escaped and won the game himself.

Scotland Yard has no real connection to the country of Scotland (the flag of which is shown in the picture clue), but actually comes from the name of a London street where the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police used to be located. The name has since become synonymous with the organisation, despite the fact that the Metropolitan Police left Scotland Yard for 'new' headquarters in 1890 - over a hundred years ago!

'Number 10' - from 10 Downing Street - is often used to refer to the British Prime Minister and his or her office; 'The City' is used to refer to London's financial district, located within the boundaries of the City of London (which isn't the same thing as London as a whole); and 'Fleet Street' is a generic term for the British press, due to the fact that the majority of newspapers used to have offices in the road of that name.

Answer: Las Vegas

'Las Vegas' is a relatively simple game of both luck and strategy. Each player gets a set of eight coloured dice; on the first roll the player chooses all the dice showing a particular number and 'bets' them on one of six casinos, they then continue to roll until all their dice have been 'bet' and placed. Once all the players have had their turn, the winnings are counted out - with the player with the most dice sitting on each casino getting the highest pay out. The player with the most money after four rounds is declared the winner.

The picture clue shows an aerial night-time view of Las Vegas. Reno is also located in Nevada and used to be the state's gambling capital until it was surpassed by Las Vegas. Monte Carlo in Monaco and Atlantic City in New Jersey are also famous gambling destinations (Atlantic City was also immortalised in the original version of one of the world's most popular board games - 'Monopoly').

Answer: Rome

'Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage' is a pretty complicated card based war-gaming board game. This is evidenced by the fact that the game includes 10 different types of token to be placed on the board and - consequently - a fairly lengthy instruction booklet! The basic premise of the game is that one player takes the role of Hannibal, leader of the Carthaginian forces, while the other controls the mighty forces of the Roman Empire. The players then roll dice and deploy strategy to attempt to win the war (and the game). Of course only one player has the chance to repeat the events of history as, despite some spectacular Carthaginian victories such as at the Battle of Cannae, the Romans eventually won the Second Punic War. (They won the First and Third Punic Wars as well!)

The picture clue shows the Colosseum in Rome, one of the most famous surviving examples of Roman architecture. The other options are all other ancient states that once found themselves at war with Carthage.

Answer: Niagara

'Niagara' features an unusual hinged board that sits on top of its box, with one edge hanging down to represent the Niagara Falls. Players aim to gain a full set of gems by rowing their canoes up and down the river to collect them - the trouble is that the river is also flowing towards the falls and any inattention or overly brave moves will see canoes tipping over the falls and out of the game! Later additions included a "bathing beaver" and a "hurried elk" - what more could you want?

The picture clue shows a view of the Niagara Falls. The incorrect options are all rivers that contain famous waterfalls: the Iguazu River, that forms part of the border between Brazil and Argentina, has the Iguazu Falls; the Zambezi River in Africa is home to the Victoria Falls; and the Potaro River in Guyana has the Kaieteur Falls, the widest single drop waterfall in the world.

Answer: Nordic

The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (as well as territories such as Greenland and the Faroe Islands). These five nations co-operate through a body known as the Nordic Council and the flags of the various members are shown in the picture clue. The board game 'Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries' does not however feature Iceland - presumably it would be too much of a stretch of the imagination to believe that anyone could build a railway across 1,100 km (700 miles) or so of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

The 'Nordic Countries' version of the game is just one of many based on the original version where players collected trains and destinations and claimed railway routes around North America.

Baltic is usually used to refer to the three nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; the Balkans includes the nations of the former Yugoslavia along with parts of Albania, Greece, Romania and Turkey; and Iberia is home to Spain, Portugal and Andorra.

Answer: Puerto Rico

In 'Puerto Rico' up to five players compete to become the most successful manager of life on Puerto Rico during the colonial period. Every round each player gets the opportunity to decide what role to tackle next (building, trading, prospecting, etc.). This allows the opportunity to pursue different strategies such as whether to grow difficult crops such as coffee that can be traded for a large number of doubloons or whether to focus on creating coveted buildings that improve trading ability and are worth large numbers of points at the end of the game. Unsurprisingly, the player with the most successful strategy tends to be the one who gains the most points and goes on to win the game.

The game is fairly complex, a fact that probably explains why it won the Deutscher Spielepreis - an award given annually to the best "gamers' game" - in 2002.

The incorrect options are all US territories or states, but are located in the Pacific Ocean. The picture clue shows a map of Puerto Rico from the late 19th century.