Cost:$22.00 From: Parker Brothers Players: 3-6 Playing Time: 15-45 minutes Type of game: Trivia Complexity: 2 Skill level: 7 Reviewed by: Peter Sarrett, Issue 1.3, Feb./March 1993 NOTE: This game is now out of print
This game looks stupid. "Trivia for morons," I thought. The gimmicky premise might work for kids, but it'd never satisfy adults. Then I played it. And played again. And again. Four times in a row, we played this stupid, childish, gimmicky game. And I'm not ashamed to admit, my first impression was way off the mark.
Split Second is a trivia game in which all the answers are either numbers or letters. You might be asked to identify years, percentages, acronyms, initials, or other numeric or alphabetic facts. But you have to answer fast-- and that's where the gimmick comes in.
Besides the ubiquitous box of trivia cards (each card containing 5 questions on each side), the game includes 6 plastic paddles which snap onto a central hub. The end of each hinged paddle acts as a tablet onto which players write their answers (using included crayons). Released paddles snap shut onto the central hub, where they're designed to overlap to easily determine who answered first, second, and so forth. The first person with a correct answer earns a point, marked off on the arm of that player's paddle. If nobody gets the correct alphabetic answer, nobody scores. If the answer is numeric, however, the person closest to the correct answer wins the point (with ties won by the person who answered fastest). Players then unfold their paddles, use tissues to wipe off their answers, and do it all over again. The first person to earn ten points wins the game.
Players take turns as quizmaster, passing the box clockwise after each question. A die roll indicates which of the 5 questions to ask. Rolling the sixth face of the die lets a player skip his turn as quizmaster. "Personal questions" such as "How many times have I used public transportation in the past month?" have no answers on the card. For these, players try to guess the quizmaster's personal answer.
Questions range from the staggeringly simple ("_ marks the spot") to the esoteric ("How many gallons of milk does the average dairy cow produce per day?"). Since you don't need the correct answer, just the closest answer, obscure trivia questions are actually more fun than the easy ones. And when everyone knows the answer to an easy question, the race to write it down and release your paddle first is exciting. In fact, sometimes you wish the paddles moved in slow motion to draw out the drama.
Split Second is a rarity-- a trivia game where children can compete on equal footing with the adults. In fact, their Nintendo-honed speed might even give kids an edge. Be prepared to spend a half hour assembling paddles and applying labels when you first open the box. But once that chore is completed, Split Second is full speed ahead.