Nobody Likes Hard Trivia Questions

Most trivia enthusiasts pride themselves on their ability to tackle challenging questions. If you or someone you know is a diehard buff, than you know that the buzz received from puzzling, pondering and ultimately retrieving the correct answer to a query is highly rewarding and satisfying. Perhaps, though, what is even more fulfilling when correctly answering trivia is having avoided that sense of frustration, anger and/or self-loathing which comes immediately after getting a question wrong.

I see it all the time at the live trivia parties we host as corporate team builders or pub quiz nights, and am even a victim of it myself when playing trivia: getting a trivia question wrong – especially one where I should have known the answer – is a mildly traumatic experience. Yes, it’s only a game, and yes it’s all in good fun. But I KNEW that one! Arghhhh! You know what I’m talking about.

This of course begs the question: who really likes hard trivia? When the questions are extremely difficult, the chances of  knowing the answer logically plummets. With the odds of people correctly answering hard trivia questions so low, and since getting trivia questions wrong is such an unpleasant experience, why would anyone reasonably enjoy them? Sure, the feeling of success and pride which comes with correctly answering hard trivia is arguable a degree higher than that which comes with answering a more manageable question, especially when you or your team are the only ones in the room who got it right. But by and large, you’ll likely be getting a lot wrong as well. Does the one question you knew about scalene triangles cancel out that punch to the gut you felt for not remembering who killed Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks? Unless it’s for the win, I’d bet probably not.

And that’s of course assuming participants even understand the question. What if it’s so hard, obscure or complicated, folks don’t even have a clue? Now, in addition to feeling frustrated, attendees feel stupid.

Frustrated, angry and stupid. Does that sound like fun to you?

Me neither. That’s why I keep “hard” questions to a minimum at my trivia parties, usually limited to the very last round where I clearly state that the questions will be more challenging, but will be worth more points as a tradeoff. This is hard for quizmasters to do, as I can surely attest: we love coming up with clever questions, in order to keep things fresh, vibrant and stimulating. However, I’d much rather see people get a lot of “easy” or “challenging” questions right than a bunch of smart, clever yet impossibly difficult questions wrong.

But then again, that’s just my opinion. Are you a trivia lover, writer or host? Do you love hard trivia? Let your voice be heard below!