The advent of television, and later the internet, has brought about a dramatic change in family entertainment. The dinner table is no longer the preferred family gathering hotspot. That crown long belonged to the space in front of the TV. Personal gadgets have recently usurped that dominance, with the family scattered in different parts of the house.

There is another item that is used to gather people together in a spot: the board game. It has long been the go-to family entertainment option. In particular, Trivia board games have challenged people intellectually while providing the same fun that any other board game gives. It turns out they can do much more than just that.

Each board game focuses on a different set of skills of their players. Trivia board games have conventionally been attributed to the use of one's intellect due to the Q&A aspect. It actually takes a combination of skills to become victorious, and you develop these skills, the more you play. 

While playing trivia, you're forced to recollect information with every question. And you have to be quick to do so. Otherwise, you will lose the game. 

Repeated attempts at recollection make the brain more adept at it. This is because our brains follow the principle of “practice makes perfect”.  And it’s not just your quickness to recollect that is improved. The need to recollect information about different categories of questions also improves the sorting of information. Better sorting and storage of information makes it easier to recall it the next time. 

Seniors can benefit immensely from this. It's been shown that the capacity to store and recollect and process information decreases with age. This is especially true of people with mental health issues like Alzheimer’s. 

This recollection can help to mitigate these memory problems. This is true if the questions are about their lived past, as 60% of the information most people over 40 can recollect comes from their young adult years. Some trivia board games like Boom Again are designed to be played by the older generations as the questions are based on the 60s and 70s.

Trivia is just as much a game of strategy as it is of memory. You have to beat many other players or another team by playing the game to your advantage. It takes skills to develop and execute a strategy for that while playing.

You can look at many elements in the game and choose to play to your strengths. You can choose to pick a category of questions of which you know more. If in a team, you’ll have to come with a strategy together by considering everyone's input. 

You'll have to read your opponents and play to their weaknesses. Your strategy will have to continually change based on their gameplay and how that's affecting yours. You'll also need to have a firm grip on the game rules and keep your strategy within its bounds. 

All this while trying to recollect long-forgotten information can improve your planning skills in other aspects of life. It will help you to think quickly on your feet by recalling bits of information at the opportune moment. This can help to solve your issue swiftly and efficiently.

Soft skills are valued just as much as hard ones in today’s workplace. You'll learn to communicate effectively and coordinate effectively across a swathe of people from various backgrounds and thought processes. 

You'll need to do the same when playing as a team in trivia. Someone will have to lead that team, meaning you'll have to display leadership qualities. If you fall short, you'll get to learn from someone who can do it well. 

No team succeeds without coordination, and your team members might be a very diverse group. This is especially true when playing with friends of friends or colleagues that you’re unfamiliar with. You’ll have to communicate and coordinate with them constantly and effectively, and vice-versa for a shot at victory.

People must have fun playing trivia. Some, however, might not be the most sociable or good at communication. You'll need to learn to communicate with such people, which will enhance your social skills. This is more so when playing with random people.

Some might consider it embarrassing when they fail to answer a question. They’ll need to be comforted over it to keep them going. Good communication is needed for that too.

Juggling many things at once is now the norm. This happens all the time in trivia. Token positions, the number of right answers, strategies, and changes to them, guessing opponents' moves, managing other tasks while playing, and more will have to be tracked and managed always. This improves hand-eye coordination and short term memory too.

Trivia board games might seem simple up front, but just like a person's mind, there's a lot more it can do once opened.