The world-famous game that puts everyone’s general knowledge to the test was recently relaunched. The new version, called Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It is racier, faster, more thrilling and requires an extra skill to win – good betting!

Emmanuel Castis of Scandal fame and Simba Mhere from Top Billing joined the launch and tried their skill at the new game, answering questions and betting against their opponents. Both Castis and Mhere are active micro-bloggers, and together with the social influencers and media, the morning turned into a ‘tweet-up’. It did not take long for Trivial Pursuit to start trending in the twitter-sphere.

Social influencers included blogger Jodene Shaer @jodenecoza and tweeters Gareth Daniell of @BraaiBoy, Ash Lurie of @mycitybynight, Derek Martin, @derekm11 organiser of SA Fashion Week, Christo de Beer @baasdebeer, Ruan Liebenberg @ruanhaha and Tyron Long @tyronlsa.
“Being a guest at the launch of Trivial Pursuit and as a social influencer being put up against the MENSA people, I felt the pangs of not feeling too smart start to hover over me. It was one of the most fun days I have had along my journey and I fell in love with the new concept of the game and soon forgot about how smart I was because we had a game to win and a charity to give the winning cheque to,” says Shaer, author of the Project Me blog.

Melinda Ferguson of True Love magazine won, beating her MENSA opponent in a sudden death match. The question was: What colour is Charlie Brown’s T-shirt? Yellow, of course! On receiving the trophy and being crowned the winner of the Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It Challenge 2011, Ferguson said: “I never expected to beat all these geniuses from MENSA. I am still basking in the glory but the best has been that we were able to give R10 000 to Chubby Chums charity organisation. Trivial Pursuit rocks and we are now regularly having family game nights at home with all the Prima Toys board games.”

Runner up, Nicola Main from MENSA, also won R10 000 from Prima Toys for charity, handing over a cheque to The Net HIV Aids orphanage.

“The new Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It game is thrilling, exciting and seems to bring out everyone’s alter ego. It has the same general knowledge element as previous versions but now has the added thrill of betting on whether or not you think your opponent knows the answer,” says Chiquita Patrizi, marketing director at Prima Toys, distributors of the game.

Listen to John Robbie on 702, weekday mornings at 08:35 for the Trivial Pursuit 3-2-1 quiz and stand a chance to win a Trivial Pursuit games hamper.

Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It is available at all good toy retailers nationwide.

Image caption: James Smith from Chubby Chums, Melinda Ferguson from True Love, Delia Eybers from Prima Toys