My mom’s house is full of board games. There’s maybe half of a dozen versions of Monopoly and kids games galore, of course. And there’s a bunch of games whose pieces have fallen by the wayside over the years, rendering them virtually useless but some small hope remains and the game stays, collecting dust. Then, there’s a game called Clever Endeavor which is neither Monopoly nor a child’s game and, yes, it does have all the pieces.

Clever Endeavor is a trivia game which can be played with 2 – 32 people (if teams are used) and is suggested for people ages 12 and up. I disagree with this statement but not because of the basis of the game – the content. The game board is decently made, if not simple and it comes with several coloured plastic pyramids. I’m not sure if the shape signifies anything.

A correct guess of the clue moves a player’s piece forward toward the center space of the board (upon reaching which the player is the winner). Pieces can be played among any path and each path is split up into red and non-red sections. On a red section, a player only gets 1 free guess as to the person, place, even, thing or mystery (which can be one of the above) at which the clues hint. After that, the player is penalized and must go back 1 (or more) spaces. On non-red spaces, a player gets 2 free guesses.

Game play starts with the youngest player reading aloud a clue from the clue card to the other player(s). I find that, with 3 – 6 players, each person can take turns being the clue reader. Once more players are added or teams are used, it might work best to designate 1 or 2 clue readers. It works best if the clue reader is then not competing but you can trade off with a second clue reader so everyone has a fair chance.

Each clue card in this game consists of 6 trivia facts about a person, place, event, thing or mystery (one of the above). The reader says aloud the type of card (or not, if you want a harder game) and reads each clue, pausing to give time for the other plays to (simultaneously) hazard a guess. The clues can be read in any order and, after 4 clues, players can request the reader to reread. In general, the latter clues are the most specific, thus the easiest to guess but if a clue reader is feeling particularly mischievous, he can read the hardest first or the opposite, if he’s kind hearted.

Some of the clues are simple trivia whereas others are more riddle-like and some are a mix of both. If you’re not good at similar trivia games, like Trivial Pursuit, Clever Endeavor may not be your thing. However, rest assured that the clues/categories are varied enough that there will be something familiar to you. Off the top of my head, people like Teddy Roosevelt and things like a rug or yo-yo were used as well as events such as the Rose Bowl. Children, history buffs, chefs and sports fans alike will all be able to easily find something close to their heart. I know Samantha was thrilled when one card described Cinderella!

Guessing the trivia item as soon as possible will earn a player more spaces forward. Racking up the incorrect guesses and he may soon find himself actually behind the start space. If a player lands on a tile with a triangle on it, he takes and action card and follows the instruction. He may be able to move forward X spaces or have to drop back. Some of the actions cards require a player to move another player’s piece forward or back and some can be kept to used for free guesses in the red zone. Each path also contains one space with an arrow pointing to a previous space. If a player lands here, he must move back (think the chute in Chutes and Ladders).

What makes this game cool is that the creators submitted a request in magazines and newspapers for clues from people all over the United States. Each clue card has been suggested by a person whose name and location are printed on the bottom of the card, along with a faded signature. At the time of the first production, a second set of cards was in the works but I wouldn’t know how to go about finding them, if they’re even available.

This brings me to my biggest bone to pick: this game is old. Made in 1989, is it quite a bit dated. There won’t be anything in here about Princess Diana’s death or the first African American president of the United States. Britney Spears was still a toddler when the game come out so don’t expect a mention of her. I especially found some of the people difficult to guess as they haven’t been around for years, if not decades, and some events which were considered significant in the 80s may not have survived the history books well.

Of course, not every card is easy to guess. We occasionally put a card back into the deck if we know there is absolutely no way the other players will guess it. Sometimes the clues are obvious to the reader (because they can see the items) and not to the others. There are many “Oooh” moments after the clues are revealed. When feeling particularly nice, I wound often add my own clue (for instance, if the person had died since the clue was written) or say the clues in a way which would emphasize the right words (many of them were wordplay). Sometimes this added to the game play. On the other hand, sometimes the wordplay would be only obvious to the reader because it involved homophones and other clues only visible to the reader. There were often some clues which simply made no sense to anyone and I ran across several clue cards which were not clever in the slightest. However, it wasn’t often that I set a card aside in disgust.

Age aside, I really liked the game. I think that a more stylized board (and box) would be an improvement but this doesn’t interfere with game play. I could see each coloured piece having its own path which was “tinted” the colour of the piece. With something like 470 cards, each with 2 sides, you can play this game a number of times before running into a repeat trivia item (although some are similar) and are likely to forget some of the trivia by the time you make it through the deck. Clever Endeavor is fun with just a few folks for a quiet night of intellectual fun but a large group can get rowdy and entertaining just as well.

Unfortunately, there is no website for Clever Endeavor and I can’t find anything to support if a second version was ever released. You’ll likely never be able to buy this game new and can only find it use or Ebay. Still, for something my mom found in her boxes, Clever Enveavor has provided several good times.