Game Over for Trivial Pursuit Inventor, Dead at 59
source: http://gnews.com/entertainment/Game-Over-for-Trivial-Pursuit-Inventor-Dead-at-59-46243317753...
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Board game lovers, knowledge seekers and pub quiz enthusiasts mourned the death of Chris Haney, co-creator of the iconic general knowledge game Trivial Pursuit.
Mr Haney died in hospital in Toronto, Canada on Monday at the age of 59, having battled with a long-term illness.
His co-creator and lifelong friend Scott Abbott paid tribute to the inventor of one of the most iconic board games ever made: “He was not a scholar in the conventional sense. That being said, he was one of the most knowledgeable, widely read people I’ve ever encountered,” he told CBC News.
Trivial Pursuit was born over a lunchtime game of Scrabble between Haney and Abbott in December 1979. When conversation turned to an alternative to Scrabble the pair quickly sketched out an idea for a trivia quiz which would rely on a broad knowledge of different disciplines.
Scribbling ideas onto a bar-room napkin, the basic formula for Trivial Pursuit was conceived, including the six categories: arts and literature, sports and leisure, science and nature, geography, history, and entertainment. The wagon wheel design of the board was also roughly decided in this early planning stage before Haney and Abbott decided to raise capital to make their idea a reality.
With $1,000 from friends and colleagues Trivial Pursuit was launched in 1981. By 1984 the game sold 20 million copies in North America alone. “We had no idea just how successful it would become,” added Abbott, “We didn’t realize it would transcend games players and become, with the Cabbage Patch Kids, what Time magazine in 1984 called an American social phenomenon.”
Trivial Pursuit made both Haney and Abbott millionaires. Mr Haney is survived by his wife and three children.
Mr Haney died in hospital in Toronto, Canada on Monday at the age of 59, having battled with a long-term illness.
His co-creator and lifelong friend Scott Abbott paid tribute to the inventor of one of the most iconic board games ever made: “He was not a scholar in the conventional sense. That being said, he was one of the most knowledgeable, widely read people I’ve ever encountered,” he told CBC News.
Trivial Pursuit was born over a lunchtime game of Scrabble between Haney and Abbott in December 1979. When conversation turned to an alternative to Scrabble the pair quickly sketched out an idea for a trivia quiz which would rely on a broad knowledge of different disciplines.
Scribbling ideas onto a bar-room napkin, the basic formula for Trivial Pursuit was conceived, including the six categories: arts and literature, sports and leisure, science and nature, geography, history, and entertainment. The wagon wheel design of the board was also roughly decided in this early planning stage before Haney and Abbott decided to raise capital to make their idea a reality.
With $1,000 from friends and colleagues Trivial Pursuit was launched in 1981. By 1984 the game sold 20 million copies in North America alone. “We had no idea just how successful it would become,” added Abbott, “We didn’t realize it would transcend games players and become, with the Cabbage Patch Kids, what Time magazine in 1984 called an American social phenomenon.”
Trivial Pursuit made both Haney and Abbott millionaires. Mr Haney is survived by his wife and three children.
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