Board Games Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
Name: ………………………………Score: ……… / 20
- In chess, which piece can only move diagonally?
- A. The bishop
- B. The rook
- C. The knight
- D. The king
- Which role-playing game, published in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, made the 20-sided die famous?
- A. Warhammer
- B. Call of Cthulhu
- C. Dungeons & Dragons
- D. Magic: The Gathering
- Which African strategy game involves 'sowing' seeds, one by one, into holes on a board?
- A. Oware (awalé)
- B. Senet
- C. Fanorona
- D. Tic-tac-toe
- In Cluedo, which colour is associated with Colonel Mustard?
- A. Red
- B. Yellow
- C. Blue
- D. Green
- What are the little person-shaped wooden pawns popularised by the game Carcassonne called?
- A. Tokens
- B. Minis
- C. Pawnies
- D. Meeples
- In Mastermind, what do you have to guess?
- A. A secret combination of colours
- B. A hidden word
- C. A mystery number
- D. A character
- In Mille Bornes, which safety card protects against flat tyres?
- A. Puncture-Proof
- B. Extra Tank
- C. Driving Ace
- D. Right of Way
- In the game Concept (2013), how do you get your partners to guess a word or phrase?
- A. By miming it
- B. By placing markers on icons
- C. By drawing it
- D. By giving a single one-word clue
- In Sea Salt & Paper, which calls can be used to end a round?
- A. 'Checkmate'
- B. 'Uno!'
- C. 'Stop' or 'Last Chance'
- D. 'Spot it!'
- Which animals are at the heart of Wingspan (2019), designed by Elizabeth Hargrave?
- A. Butterflies
- B. Birds
- C. Fish
- D. Insects
- In the cooperative game The Mind, how must players lay down their cards numbered 1 to 100?
- A. By colour
- B. By announcing their value
- C. Taking turns clockwise
- D. In ascending order, without talking
- In Splendor, which resources do players collect as tokens?
- A. Precious gems
- B. Spices
- C. Gold coins
- D. Scrolls
- In Uwe Rosenberg's Patchwork, what do the two players make?
- A. A stained-glass window
- B. A wall tapestry
- C. A garden
- D. A quilt made of fabric patches
- Memory is known as a nightmare for adults playing against little ones. According to a 1996 study comparing 5-year-olds, 10-year-olds and adults, who made the fewest errors about where the cards were?
- A. The adults
- B. The 10-year-olds
- C. The 5-year-olds
- D. No difference between the groups
- Which 1966 game, where players twist themselves over a mat of coloured circles, was accused by competitors of being 'sex in a box'?
- A. Twister
- B. Magic Mat
- C. Dance Dance
- D. Contortion
- In a standard deck of cards, which king is traditionally the only one without a moustache?
- A. The king of spades
- B. The king of hearts
- C. The king of clubs
- D. The king of diamonds
- Which French strategy game, created in 2000, involves placing coloured pieces that may only touch at the corners?
- A. Tetris
- B. Qwirkle
- C. Othello
- D. Blokus
- How many pieces does each player have at the start of a game of chess?
- A. 12
- B. 14
- C. 16
- D. 20
- How many tiles are there in a standard "double-six" set of dominoes?
- A. 21
- B. 24
- C. 28
- D. 36
- In the game "Carcassonne" (2000), what do players lay down to build cities, roads and fields?
- A. Cards
- B. Tiles
- C. Dice
- D. Marbles
Answer key — Board Games Quiz
- A. The bishopThe bishop moves diagonally as many squares as it likes, so it stays on squares of the same colour for the whole game.
- C. Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons founded tabletop role-playing: players embody heroes guided by a game master.
- A. Oware (awalé)Oware belongs to the large family of sowing games, or mancala, among the oldest games known.
- B. YellowEach suspect has their own pawn colour: yellow for Colonel Mustard, red for Miss Scarlett, blue for Mrs Peacock, purple for Professor Plum…
- D. MeeplesThe word 'meeple', a blend of 'my people', was coined in 2000 by Carcassonne players.
- A. A secret combination of coloursInvented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, Mastermind is about finding a code of coloured pegs in as few tries as possible, using black and white clues.
- A. Puncture-ProofEach safety card protects against one hazard: Driving Ace against accidents, Extra Tank against running out of fuel, Puncture-Proof against flat tyres and Right of Way against stop lights and speed limits.
- B. By placing markers on iconsIn Concept you stay silent: you place markers and cubes on a board covered with icons (colours, shapes, ideas such as 'animal' or 'hot') to suggest the word to be guessed.
- C. 'Stop' or 'Last Chance'Once they have at least 7 points, a player may call 'Stop' (the round ends) or 'Last Chance': the others take one more turn, if the caller stays ahead they earn a bonus, otherwise they score almost nothing.
- B. BirdsWingspan features 170 cards of real birds, accurately illustrated.
- D. In ascending order, without talkingNo communication is allowed: players must 'feel' the right moment to play.
- A. Precious gemsIn Splendor (2014), you are a Renaissance merchant: you collect gem tokens to buy mines and workshops and attract nobles.
- D. A quilt made of fabric patchesPatchwork (2014) is a two-player placement duel: each player buys oddly shaped fabric patches, paid for with buttons, to fill their 9 × 9 board as well as possible.
- C. The 5-year-oldsThe 5-year-olds made fewer location errors and forgot fewer cards during the game than both the 10-year-olds and the adults.
- A. TwisterSales were slow… until TV host Johnny Carson played it live with actress Eva Gabor.
- B. The king of heartsOn English cards, he even appears to stick a sword into his head, hence the nickname 'suicide king'.
- D. BlokusInvented by Bernard Tavitian, it takes a few minutes to play but has real strategic depth.
- C. 168 pawns, 2 rooks, 2 knights, 2 bishops, 1 queen and 1 king: 32 pieces on the board at the start.
- C. 28Every pair of numbers from 0 to 6 appears once, doubles included: 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 28.
- B. TilesEach turn you draw a tile and place it to extend the landscape.