mighty fine trivia by James Callan

Will Wright’s Five Second Rule

I was reading Luke Wroblewski’s blog for my day job and came across this idea:

Will Wright, the creator of the Sims & Spore, has a belief that games should allow people to succeed within the first five seconds.

What does this mean for writing trivia? Quizzes and quiz rounds should start with their easiest question and get harder as they go. Given Wright’s “success in the first five seconds” thought, though, inspires me to go further:

The first question of the quiz is one that everyone should get right, right away. Asked, answered, minor victory achieved.

(The trick: making that question both easy and interesting.)

(Also: Anyone have a straight-from-the-source cite for that Wright quote? Let me know.)

1 Comment

  1. debcha

    At the pub trivia I go to in Cambridge, MA, the category for the very first question is frequently “Just to See If You’re Paying Attention” and the question is drawn from recent news headlines.

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