In the annals of social interaction, Trivial Pursuit is a big deal. Word and board games had existed before 1982, when the brain tickler in a box became widely available, and of course people had gathered together for an evening of conversation before then. But no board game created for adults had ever become such a phenomenal success, even among those who didn't play cards or chess and who thought children's games like Monopoly were insomnia cures.

Although its impact on social life at the end of the 20th century was not as profound as the invention of e-mail, Trivial Pursuit did start its own little revolution, fought by an army of competitors willing to take off their Walkman earphones, turn off their computers and leave the cathode-ray glow of their TV sets to play games designed for groups of grown-ups. And now there's a 20th anniversary edition of the game that could lure a new generation away from their Palm Pilots, iPods and personal DVD players.

Trivial Pursuit is fast, irreverent, simultaneously smart and silly. Two to six players move around a wheel by answering questions in six categories. Whoever's seemingly normal mind is actually crammed with minutiae about sports, history, geography, science, literature, and arts and entertainment wins. Each version of the game contains about 4,000 questions on cards that are rotated in play, so enthusiasts can spend a lot of time huddling around a Trivial Pursuit board before hearing a question twice.

How to play can be explained in less time than it takes to decimate a platter of hors d'oeuvres. Pursuit of victory may be trivial, but it's also curiously addictive. The very nature of trivia is that it usually isn't studied, rather absorbed by a kind of osmosis. The person who knows the answer to "How many plays did Shakespeare write?" is probably as surprised as anyone that 37 popped into mind, and longs to repeat that heady experience. As obscure as many of the questions appear to be, their scope is so broad that everyone knows or can guess some answers.

The mechanics of the game don't begin to convey its charm. Who cares whether you know what bodily function can reach the breakneck speed of 100 miles an hour? Considering the possibilities is hilarious. And if you guess that a sneeze has extraordinary velocity and therefore move on to the next category, so much the better.

Trivial Pursuit mania peaked in 1984, when more than 20 million games were bought in North America. What was its unprecedented sales record? It grossed $1.4 million on 40 million units in 36 months. Until then, any game that sold 1 million a year was considered a hit. Today, Trivial Pursuit is played in 26 countries and 17 languages, and nearly 80 million games have been sold throughout the world. More than a dozen editions have been issued, including ones with questions devoted to movies, sports or baby boomers. The 20th anniversary edition features questions that will remind those old enough to remember the '80s and '90s what a long, strange trip it's been.

Remember Joey Buttafuoco? Fantasy Island? Smurfs? They linger at the trivia party, enjoying one last dance under the disco ball.

Scott Abbott, sports editor of the Canadian Press in Montreal, and Chris Haney, photo editor of the Montreal Gazette, were housemates in 1979, when they decided to invent a game. "The fact that we were journalists was key," Abbott says. "We were used to facts and information. We had spent a lot of time sitting in taverns or newsrooms ruminating about weird facts or asking each other questions. A command of trivia is a way for true sports fans to prove they have a depth of knowledge about sports."

Once they'd created a prototype, they recruited two friends to help them raise capital and market their invention. In three years they went through $100,000, self-publishing and selling games in Canada before finding a big American company that believed in Trivial Pursuit.

Mimi Avins is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.

Trivial tidbits

A sampling of questions from the 20th anniversary edition:

Global View: What holiday do trigger-happy Bavarians ring in with a Weihnachtsschtzen salute of gunfire from ceremonial pistols?

Sound & Screen: What trash-TV host popularized the expression "Zip it, fathead" in the 1980s?

News: What U.S. senator's announcement of his 2002 retirement inspired pollster Sam Watts to quip: "I guess the 19th century is over now"?

The Written Word: What society queen limited the premiere issue of her Living in Style magazine to just 58 photos of herself?

Innovations: Which malady inspires the most online searches -- allergies, erectile dysfunction or hemorrhoids?

ANSWERS:

Christmas; Morton Downey Jr.; Jesse Helms; Ivana Trump; allergies.