Trivia for Dummies

Genre: Party Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Trivia for Dummies is, as the name indicates, a trivia-based Party Game released on the Nintendo Switch in 2022. It is also about as bare-bones an entry in that genre as you could expect.

Yes, this is an actual licensed product using the franchise and logo of the popular series of self-help books. However, beyond that surface-level use of the license, there’s very little here that reflects the polish that such an established name indicates will be present.

The presentation here is exceedingly bland. It’s largely just simple text on a flat-colored background, and on rare occasion a question will be accompanied by a still photo, which generally doesn’t seem necessary for answering the question. In multiplayer, the two different players don’t even have assigned colors to differentiate them, only text. And the only noise here seems to be a short bit of stereotypical quiz game music and a sound effect for correct or incorrect answers, that’s it.

If you were hoping for the gameplay to make up for the boring presentation, you’ll be exceedingly disappointed. There are no options, no game modes. You can only decide between single-player and two-player modes, which then give players 10 or 12 multiple-choice questions in randomly-selected categories. There’s no support for more than two players, despite that there’s no reason the game couldn’t support more players. There’s no way to narrow down the types of questions you’re given, no way to choose the length of the timer… players can only take the game as it is.

That would be disappointing enough already, but even then this game is shockingly poorly-constructed. Players do not choose an answer to the question, but must highlight it and wait out the timer, resulting in players repeatedly sitting and doing nothing after selecting an answer, waiting out ten or so seconds as the timer ticks down. I also encountered problems with the game not properly detecting the movement of the analog stick, making simply selecting the answer an ordeal. What’s more, to even see your cursor you have to wiggle the analog stick to make it appear. Oh, and don’t even think about using the D-Pad or directional buttons here – they only work on the main menu screen.

I got Trivia for Dummies on sale for $2 and I want my money back. Honestly I think the For Dummies license-holders should ask for their money back from this terribly lazy and broken game too. The boring presentation, unimaginative gameplay, the lack of multiplayer beyond two players, the busted controls, and the game forcing players to wait out a clock even after coming up with an answer all amount to one of the worst trivia games I have ever played.

tl;dr – Trivia for Dummies is quite possibly the worst trivia game I have ever played. It’s boring, unimaginative, controls poorly, doesn’t provide players with any options, and forces players to sit and wait for a timer even after everyone has answered the question. Do not buy this game.

Grade: D-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Most Overpriced ($10), Most Disappointing

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