Honor System

Super Quiz

Suggested Uses

There are more than 150 cards in each box. Each card has one side designated “A” and the other side “B”. The cards are placed in the box with all A cards facing one way. There are 3 questions on the A face and 3 on the B face The answers are shown below for each question The questions are in 3 levels of difficulty and points are awarded accordingly.

   1 Freshman Level (1 point)
   2 Graduate Level (2 points)
   3 Ph D Level (3 points)

Object of the Game

The player who reaches a total of 35 points wins the game. In reaching this total a player must get at least 3 points in each of the 6 categories, but is allowed no more than 10 points in any one category.

Play

1. The boxes of cards are removed from the game box and distributed among the players. The distribution of the boxes is not important but any player whose turn it is to answer a question must be asked the question by another player.

Therefore, it is suggested that if possible players select the category or categories on which they have the least knowledge.

2. Select a quiz master who will record the score on the score pad and monitor the play. For example this person could he the arbiter on disputes and inform players when they have reached the maximum ten points in a category. To do this he should keep a running total of each player’s points.

3. Any player can begin play. The first player chooses a category to be quizzed on and the level of difficulty, e g “Science at Graduate Level”. The player holding the box of that category takes a card from the back of the box and asks the question corresponding to the level requested. (If a player requests a question in the category which that player holds, the box must be passed to the first player on the left who must ask the question. The box is returned after the answer has been given). A correct answer will score points according to the level, i.e. Freshman 1 point, Graduate 2 points, Ph D 3 points. The quiz master will note the score on the pad and the card is returned to the front of the box.

Play will pass to the player on the left of the last player and will continue in a clockwise direction. Each player answers only one question in each turn regardless of whether the answer is correct or not.

Play will continue until one player reaches the required points total, made up of the various categories as described in Object of the Game.

When a player claims a win, play continues until the round is complete, i.e. until each player has been given the same number of questions.

During this period any player can tie or surpass the score of the first claimant thus tieing or winning the game.

Team Play

Players may form teams when 4 or more players are involved, and many groups develop their own inventive format.

Players may choose how the teams operate, between themselves, however it is suggested that either (1) within the team each player answers a question in turn, or (2) the whole team confers and one player is designated to give the answer Note: Only one answer, the first given, will be accepted. Points are earned for the team and scored accordingly.

Notes on Play

Players should decide before starting what constitutes a reasonable time to answer the question and how exact the answer must be in order to be considered correct. Rather than impose a strict rule, these decisions should be made by agreement among the players. However, it is suggested that the tempo not be allowed to lag, and that answers be accepted if they satisfy the intent of the question.

Cards with ‘A’ questions should be taken from the back of the box and replaced at the front until they are all used once. Then the box should be turned around and the same procedure repeated with the ‘B’ side.

Variations

Super Quiz lends itself to variations in play which can be decided by the players. The game may be shortened or lengthened in duration by requiring a lower or higher points score. This might be especially required with large teams.

Young players can be given a chance to compete on a fairer basis with more mature players by (a) giving them a lower point target to win, (b) requiring mature players to answer only Graduate or Ph D level questions and awarding them only one or two points respectively However, these are only suggestions and players invent their own variations as they become more familiar with Super Quiz.

Players may decide to establish rules for the giving of clues. For instance, a player selecting Ph D level may be given a clue by the questioner in order to obtain 2 points instead of 3 points. The quiz master will usually decide on the points value of a near-correct answer.

A Message from Isaac Asimov

New York 1983
ANY NUMBER CAN PLAY

Questions!
We live our lives surrounded by questions of all kinds There are the casual questions that are born out of boredom. What are you doing? What time is it? Anyone for tennis?

There are questions that arise out of the need for more serious information.

Pardon me, can you tell me the way to the post office? — How might I best invest my money these days? —Doctor, what shall I do about this rash I seem to have?

There are questions that you are asked out of a desire to reach some hidden truth.

There is the doctor who quizzes you on where and when and how often something hurts, what you’ve been eating, and all the intimate and embarrassing details of the body’s plumbing and other machinery

There is a wife’s sudden, “And who is Elsie, may I ask?”

There is the elaborate cross-examination of a lawyer facing a sweating person on the witness stand.

There are the intricate and subtle questions scientists ask the Universe in another kind of cross-examination called “scientific research”.

We can list these all under the heading of “Information Requested”.

There is a second variety of questions that come under the heading of “Testing! Testing!” These questions are designed to help someone determine how much you know about a particular subject, for instance, so that someone might decide whether you are suitable for a particular job, or for entrance into a particular school, or to marry a particular offspring

Can you operate a word processor? — How did the nullification crisis of the 1830’s arise? — What kind of a job do you have, young man? — Do you like to cook, darling?

In fact, such questions can be aimed at finding out how “intelligent” you are.

If x2 follows x, what follows y5? — Which of the following figures does not belong in the group? — In what science do we find the following words tufaceous, moraine, Pliocene, magma?

What all these questions have in common is that none of them are fun. Giving information can be dull, or embarrassing, or acutely uncomfortable. Test questions are a particular pain in the neck. Who wants to reveal the extent of one’s ignorance or stupidity?

Answering a question can conceivably be a pleasure. Someone might ask: Would you mind telling us how you came to pick the winning number in the lottery? Or Was it really you who won the Miss America contest? Or Answer the following question and I’ll give you fifty dollars: Who was the first president of the United States?

But ask yourself, how many times are you likely to be faced with questions like those?

There is, however, such a thing as questions that are meant to be fun, that offer us a chance to play a game. What kind of questions are these? The kind you find in Super Quiz They are not intended to test your intelligence or to trip you up. They are just straightforward questions with straightforward answers that can usually be expressed in a word or two.

Here are 5,760 questions, divided into six categories. The questions are graded into easy, medium and hard, with one question and answer in each of the three levels on each side of the card.

No one has to be a bookworm to know many of the answers, people who lay no claim to intellectuality may have picked up a considerable supply of information on one subject or another.

The suggested rules are only one way of playing Super Quiz and if you want to have a competition you can divide a group into teams.

It will not only be fun, but some of the players may even get the sneaking feeling that the whole thing has been painlessly educational as well.

And the nicest thing is: Any number can play

Isaac Asimov is one of the most prolific and diverse writers in the world. He is an internationally recognized expert on astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and, of course, science fiction Dr Asimov has also written books of mystery, general fiction, an annotated Bible, and an annotated Shakespeare.

As editor of SUPERQUIZ, Isaac Asimov makes use of the full range of his expertise, examining and approving each of the 5760 questions.

Ken Fisher first developed SUPERQUIZ as a party game for personal friends. People found the unique, three-level format so challenging and entertaining that they demanded more and more. Now everyone can enjoy SUPERQUIZ.

When he is not creating quizzes, Ken Fisher is a teacher in Toronto, Canada.

Waddingtons

Waddingtons Games Inc., 75 West Drive, Bramalea, Ontario, Canada L6T 2J6
Tel.;(416)457-7111 Telex:06-988531