Buzz
In December 1979, Canadian journalists Chris Haney and Scott Abbott came up with the idea for a new board game while playing Scrabble. They brainstormed the core concept in just one night, experimenting with multiple game board layouts before choosing a "ship's wheel" design featuring six spokes leading to a central winner's circle. To complement the wheel theme, they designed round game tokens that also served as scorekeepers, allowing players to track their progress without needing a separate score pad.
Assembling the team
After incorporating Horn Abbot and delving into the complexities of launching a board game, the founders realized they needed approximately $75,000 to develop a prototype, including the game board, pieces, and question cards. They reached out to family, friends, and colleagues for financial support, offering company shares in return for their investments. While many dismissed their idea (as is common with so-called "million-dollar ideas"), they eventually persuaded 34 individuals to invest in their vision. Just four years later, these investors were receiving substantial five-figure dividend payments.
Creating on a tight budget
When he submitted the final design, Haney and Abbott offered Wurstlin the choice between $1,000, as initially agreed, or five shares in their company. After persistent teasing and remarks like, "What are you, chicken?", Wurstlin reluctantly accepted the shares. His investment eventually paid off handsomely, enabling him to establish Wurstlingroup, a highly successful marketing firm based in Toronto.
Meeting the growing demand
The injection molding company responsible for producing the game tokens proved more cooperative. Northern Plastics, located in Elroy, Wisconsin, operated with three presses and four employees when Horn Abbot approached them in 1983. Horn Abbot provided the funds for purchasing plastic and molds. Within a year, Northern Plastics expanded to 140 employees and eight presses, operating around the clock to meet demand.
Developing the questions
Have you ever wondered how the creators of Trivial Pursuit generate the 6,000 questions featured in each edition? While many topics stem from their own creative minds, they also sought external inspiration. Fred L. Worth, a trivia enthusiast, had published three comprehensive volumes of a "trivia encyclopedia" before 1981. Worth understood that while facts of public record couldn't be owned, the presentation and organization of such material could be copyrighted.
Worth employed a mapmaker's tactic to catch anyone copying his books verbatim—he intentionally inserted a false fact. His "bunny" (a term for such red herrings) was the claim that TV's Columbo's first name was "Philip."
(The first name of Peter Falk's character was never revealed during the series.)
Surprisingly, a question in the Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition featured the Columbo question with the "Philip" answer. Worth aggressively pursued Horn Abbot, filing a $300 million lawsuit on October 23, 1984. Judge William Byrne dismissed the case before trial, ruling that Trivial Pursuit was "substantially different" from Worth's Super Trivia encyclopedia.
"You always get people claiming they invented this before," said patent attorney Jim Carson in a 1984 interview (his firm represented Horn Abbot). One such claimant was Buddie Miller from Trinidad and Tobago, who created a trivia-based board game called Brainstorm in 1977. Miller argued that Horn Abbot copied his idea of using question-printed cards. However, he couldn't pursue legal action effectively, as he had only copyrighted the game in Trinidad and Tobago. To judge the similarities, visit Miller's website (he remains quite bitter to this day) and decide for yourself.
