On Books, Art and Entertainment

Eve's Quest:
New board game celebrates women’s achievements and experiences
by Kathleen O’Grady

Maybe you already knew that Patsy O. Sherman is a scientist and the inventor of Scotchgard. (I didn’t). But what did her high school aptitude test indicate that she would be best suited to do in life? (Answer: Housewife). In what year was the first separate Olympic Village for women created? You might be tempted to think back several decades, but it was all too recent. (Answer: 1984). Which daring pilot was the first person to successfully fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean from west to east? Many of you might guess Amelia Earhart, but you’d be wrong. (Answer: Beryl Markham).

Move over, Trivial Pursuit, there’s a new board game on the market that packs as much learning as fun into a couple of hours, but this time it is all about women. EVE’s Quest, created by two Canadian women, Odette McCarthy and Joanna Broadhurst, combines charades and dice-based games with challenging trivia questions that, on reflection, are not so trivial at all.

Questions run the gamut from science to politics to art, history, health, religion and more. Don’t panic: players are often presented with a list of multiple choice answers, which means that even an educated guess can get you pretty far. But the answers are often surprising – even for those of us who think we know a thing or two about women’s issues and accomplishments. The questions focus on women’s achievements from around the world, so there is a refreshing balance of North American content with international content. The range, quality and sheer quantity of women’s achievements that are highlighted throughout the game are remarkable enough to make any woman proud of her gender.

The game values popular culture and domestic experience as much as it does traditional historical facts. For example, naming at least three cycles on a washing machine may move you ahead on the board as much as answering: "What Nobel laureate said, 'What the soul does for the body so does the poet for her people?'" (Answer: Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral).

The game also combines a fun "Dare" category, where players have to draw or sing, and a category called "Intuition Questions," where there are no right or wrong answers, but creativity is rewarded. My favorite: “Give an example of an event that, if it were to happen, would clearly demonstrate that women had achieved equality with men.”

Eve’s Quest is available at a variety of book stores and games stores in North America, and is also available for purchase at evesquest.com.

ed note: Many more reviews will be posted soon! Please check back.

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