FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
I'm Farai Chideya, and this is News & Notes. Let's move on to some trivial pursuits. Did Gregory Hines, Alvin Ailey, Langston Hughes, or Katherine Dunham create a famous dance company in New York? What was Jesse Jackson's birth name? Which member of the group En Vogue was crowned Miss Black California? Those are some questions from a new DVD game called "Are You Sure?"
Maryland high school teacher Daryl Penn invented the game because he found games like "Family Feud" or "Trivial Pursuit" didn't highlight African-American history and culture. Daryl's with us now. Thanks for coming on.
Mr. DARYL PENN (Inventor, "Are You Sure?" Trivia Game): Thanks for having me.
CHIDEYA: So what gave you the idea for the game?
Mr. PENN: Well I went to a - my sister had a get-together. There were six African-America couples, we were playing games. And one game in particular, we were playing "Family Feud." And the question was, name a street that's in every American city. And like I knew that the answer was MLK because every city has a Martin Luther King. You know, it was a done deal. We're talking trash to the other team. And that wasn't even listed as one of the options, and there were five options. So after that question, it just had me thinking, well maybe there's another game that I could bring to the next get-together. So I went to Toys 'R' Us, Wal-Mart, Target, I went online, and I couldn't find it. So since I couldn't find it, I decided to create it.
CHIDEYA: Tell us how the game is played, like, what is it like? What, you know, what happens? What kind of teams?
Mr. PENN: OK. Well the game starts with you - you start with two teams. Three rounds are played. As the rounds go, the - as the rounds progress, the questions get harder, and the points increase. Periodically, you know, a question will be answered and a video will pop up, and the person on the video will say, are you sure? And they'll give them the opportunity to change their answer. And at the end of the game, whoever has the most points, that's the team that wins.
CHIDEYA: OK. I'm going to put myself out here as a sacrificial lamb. I understand you brought some questions. I got email from a listener once who said - when I failed a trivia question earlier, said, I expected more from you.
(Soundbite of laughter)
CHIDEYA: So I'm just going to put myself out. Ask me a question.
Mr. PENN: OK, I'll be nice.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. PENN: "Everybody Hates Chris" star Terry Crews was drafted by what NFL team? So you have four options. Let me give those to you, the Redskins, the Eagles, the Chargers, or the Rams.
CHIDEYA: Oh, man. I am laughing here because I am so sports illiterate. I have no clue. I cannot even guess. But I will say that I was on the dance floor with Terry Crews last night at one of the BET parties, and he knows how to move and so does his wife. But I'm completely - I'll say the Redskins, I don't know.
Mr. PENN: OK. Well, it was the Rams.
CHIDEYA: OK.
Mr. PENN: So you were close. They both start with an R.
(Soundbite of laughter)
CHIDEYA: I don't know if I'd get points for that in the game. All right, let's do one more.
Mr. PENN: OK, I'll give you an easy one. How many Kwanzaa principles are there? Seven…
CHIDEYA: Seven.
Mr. PENN: Then, there you go.
(Soundbite of laughter)
CHIDEYA: Thank goodness. Don't ask me to name all of them. But Nia, that's one. We actually - that was, you know, we had a little whole Kwanzaa quiz on our air before. I was not the one doing it. But, let's put it this way, a lot of people failed. So what are you really hoping to accomplish with this game? You know, what do you want besides people having fun?
Mr. PENN: For me, like, with my family, we played a lot of games growing up, and we still play a lot of games together. I just look at it as a bonding tool. Like I worked as a - I'm a teacher, but I also - I was the advisor for a mentorship group for young men. And we would talk all the time, and they would say a lot of times that they didn't spend time with their families. Like when they went home, you know, they'd be in their room, their sister might be in the other room, you know, the parents are somewhere else.
This is something that can bring the entire family into the same place and kind of put them on equal footing, because the way the questions were created, it's not like - like I'm 38, but the questions don't all pertain to my era. So, like for my team, if I was playing, for my team to be successful, it would be a good idea for me to get someone that's maybe 16, maybe someone that's 59. So, you know, no matter what the question is, we kind of have someone that's in that era. So that's kind of the purpose, just to bond families.
CHIDEYA: You got students involved in this. Tell me about that.
Mr. PENN: That was just - what I did, I picked students that I've had in class before. I'm a business education teacher. So I made sure they were students that really were comfortable with the computer and they could get the information that I needed. So I really just gave them - I rented my classroom out for - actually I did it for two Saturdays. And I had five students come in each time. And I just gave them topics that I wanted questions about. And then I just had one or two of those students verify the information, and then I went back over and I verified it as well.
CHIDEYA: You've got a company now called Jornic DVD Games. What are your plans in terms of the company? Are you going to try and put out more titles?
Mr. PENN: Absolutely. After - I'm looking at putting out one more title before the Christmas holiday, but I haven't decided. I'm looking at a couple, but I haven't made a decision yet.
CHIDEYA: You're still going to teach, and you're going to try to design more games. Are you afraid that, you know, are you afraid of losing your shirt in business? Because you know, there's nothing guaranteed.
Mr. PENN: Well, sometimes you have to take a chance, but I'm not going to spend a million bucks to create the game. You know, I'm taking things slowly. That for me, that's kind of one of the things that I've seen people in the past and - my degree's in business, and people - some companies, they go under because they try to get too big, too fast. So I'm trying - I'm taking things slowly.
CHIDEYA: What's the best compliment you've ever heard from anyone who's played the game?
Mr. PENN: Well, I had students play it, and they didn't know that I created the game. And the biggest compliment was it wasn't long enough. And that lets me know they wanted to keep playing, they enjoyed it, and you know, that made me feel good.
CHIDEYA: Absolutely. Daryl, thank you so much.
Mr. PENN: Thank you.
CHIDEYA: Daryl Penn is a business teacher at Old Mill High School in Millersville, Maryland. He's also the creator of the new DVD game, "Are You Sure?" He joined us from the studios of the Baltimore Sun, in Baltimore, Maryland.
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