02/07/07: All of us here at GamesThatRock sure liked the story about Country Music Triviologies — the Music Trivia Game That's All Country! by Mario Tarradell of the Dallas Morning News. Here's his review.

Playing the Game of C&W Stardom
COUNTRY MUSIC: If trivia's your thing, you can be king
By MARIO TARRADELL / The Dallas Morning News

In 1947, what early country music legend charted with the bluesy song "Move It on Over" and the honky-tonk song "Honky-Tonkin'"?

How about this one: In 1992, Some Gave All became the first debut album by a country artist to enter the pop charts at No. 1. Name the artist.

Yes, Hank Williams (first answer) is still the king, but Billy Ray Cyrus (answer 2) gets a little respect, too.

Country Music Triviologies, the Trivial Pursuit of country music, lets players earn collectibles – a banjo, cowboy hat, even a cow skull – before they hitch a "free ride to Music City" and score a "country chart topper."

The winner is a bona-fide country star.

Country Music Triviologies, created by Wisconsin-based Aleken Games, follows the company's Rock and Roll Triviologies. Players answer trivia questions, from easy to difficult. Correct answers move you up the ladder of industry success.

Texas artists figure prominently in Country Music Triviologies. You'll find questions about Billy Joe Shaver, Terry Allen and Pat Green, to name a few.

"A lot of the Texas guys are in there," says Ken Eichstaedt, president of Aleken Games. "The whole Texas country, that Austin area, is formidable. It's part of the country music landscape."

Even one of Dallas' own is in there: From her 2002 smash record Come Away With Me, pop star Norah Jones crossed over into country and sang what "cool" Hank Williams song? (See answer at the end of the story.)
Aleken Games developed Country Music Triviologies in 2005 after the solid response to Rock and Roll Triviologies, which has sold about 80,000 copies since its 2003 launch, according to Mr. Eichstaedt.

"We tried to think about what country music folks like," says Mr. Eichstaedt by phone from his office in Waukesha, Wis. "We thought of country legends, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams. The new country; all the hot country bands."

But country isn't a carbon copy of rock, so the games couldn't be exactly alike.

"Rock 'n' roll fans are all about the album. They can tell you when an album was made, what the cover looks like. For country music fans, the song is more important. They know the words; they know the song. So we have a country jukebox category. We made the game more song-oriented and less album-oriented."

Country Music Triviologies, which reportedly has sold 20,000 copies since it hit stores, is available at music, book and toy retailers, and even some country nightclubs. "Western-wear-type stores have it. Gilley's Dallas would have it. Ernest Tubb Record Shops have it. The Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville has it," says Mr. Eichstaedt.

You can also try the company's Web site, www.gamesthatrock.com.

And the answer to the Norah Jones question: "Cold, Cold Heart."