Video Games Quiz
From 8-bit arcades to open worlds: 15 questions on gaming's biggest characters and consoles.
What year was the original "Pong" arcade game released by Atari?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
1972
Atari released Pong in November 1972, and its first test cabinet at Andy Capp's Tavern in California stopped working within days because the coin box was jammed full of quarters.
Magnavox had shown a similar tennis game on its Odyssey console earlier in 1972, and Atari later paid to settle a patent claim.
What is the best-selling video game of all time (as of 2025)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Minecraft
Minecraft passed 300 million copies sold in 2023, well clear of Grand Theft Auto V, which has sold more than 200 million.
Microsoft bought Minecraft developer Mojang for 2.5 billion dollars in 2014, five years after Markus 'Notch' Persson first released the game.
What is the name of the protagonist in "The Legend of Zelda" series?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Link
Link is the green-clad hero of every Zelda game, while Zelda is the princess he usually rescues, which is why so many people get the names mixed up.
Shigeru Miyamoto based the original 1986 game on his childhood explorations of caves and woods around Kyoto.
Which company developed the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Nintendo
Nintendo built the NES, released in Japan as the Famicom in 1983 and in North America in 1985, where it revived the games market after the 1983 crash.
The US launch bundle included a light gun and the R.O.B. robot so that toy stores would stock it as a toy rather than a video game.
In what game do players survive on a blocky, procedurally generated 3D world?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Minecraft
Minecraft generates an almost endless world of blocks where players mine resources, build shelters and survive the night against creepers and zombies.
A single Minecraft world is limited to roughly 30 million blocks in each direction from its center, an area several times bigger than the surface of Earth.
What was Sega's last home console before exiting the hardware market?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Sega Dreamcast
The Dreamcast launched in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in the US, but weak sales against the PlayStation 2 led Sega to quit hardware in 2001.
It was the first console to ship with a built-in modem for online play, and it introduced Shenmue, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio.
Which iconic game character was originally called "Jumpman"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Mario
In the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong the hero was simply called Jumpman; he was renamed Mario after Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord, Mario Segale.
Mario got a mustache, cap and overalls because they were easier to draw at a low pixel resolution than a mouth, hair and moving arms.
Which battle royale game, created by Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, launched into Steam Early Access in March 2017?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds arrived on 23 March 2017 and hit more than three million concurrent Steam players that December, a peak no game has matched since.
Fortnite's free battle royale mode followed in September 2017 and quickly overtook PUBG in player numbers on consoles and mobile.
Which console introduced motion-controlled gaming to a mainstream audience in 2006?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Nintendo Wii
The Wii launched in November 2006 with a motion-sensing remote that made Wii Sports a hit with families and retirement homes alike, and it sold more than 101 million units.
Nintendo's 'blue ocean' strategy deliberately targeted non-gamers rather than competing with the more powerful PS3 and Xbox 360 on graphics.
What is the name of the fictional city in the Grand Theft Auto V (2013)?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Los Santos
Los Santos is Rockstar's parody of Los Angeles, complete with a Vinewood sign, and it sits in the fictional state of San Andreas alongside rural Blaine County.
GTA V cost an estimated 265 million dollars to make and market, and earned 800 million dollars on its first day on sale in 2013.
Which game studio created "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt"?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt Red, based in Warsaw, released The Witcher 3 in 2015, adapting Andrzej Sapkowski's Polish fantasy novels about the monster hunter Geralt of Rivia.
The studio's follow-up, Cyberpunk 2077, had a famously rough 2020 launch before being rebuilt around the Phantom Liberty expansion in 2023.
Which handheld console, launched in 1989 with Tetris as its killer app, went on to sell about 118 million units including its Color successor?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Nintendo Game Boy
Nintendo's Game Boy was chunky and monochrome, but its low price, long battery life and Tetris pack-in crushed the more powerful Game Gear and Atari Lynx.
Pokémon Red and Green arrived in Japan in 1996, late in the Game Boy's life, and the first generation became its best-selling game with more than 31 million copies sold.
In "Among Us," what are the impostor's sabotage targets on the Skeld map?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Reactor, O2, lights, and communications
On The Skeld, impostors can sabotage the reactor, oxygen, lights and communications, and also lock doors, forcing crewmates to abandon tasks and fix them.
Among Us launched quietly in 2018 and only exploded in 2020, when streamers picked it up during lockdown and it reached around half a billion monthly players.
Which game features the quote "War. War never changes."?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Fallout
Ron Perlman first delivered 'War. War never changes.' in the 1997 original, and the line has opened every main Fallout game in the series since.
The Fallout TV series on Amazon Prime in 2024 sent player numbers for Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 to record highs nearly a decade after their release.
Which 1980 Namco arcade game was designed by Toru Iwatani to appeal to women and was reportedly inspired by a pizza with a slice missing?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man, released in Japan as Puckman in 1980, was built around eating rather than shooting, and it went on to gross billions of dollars in quarters.
Pac-Man has a 'kill screen' at level 256, where a bug scrambles half the maze and makes the level impossible to finish.
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All Technology quizzes →About the Video Games Quiz
Video games now earn more than movies and music combined, with the global market worth well over 180 billion dollars a year. It all started with a pair of paddles and a bouncing dot in 1972, and the industry has since produced blocky sandboxes, sprawling open worlds and battle royales that pull in millions of players every night. Along the way it gave us plumbers, hedgehogs and a hero in a green tunic who is not called Zelda.
The 15 questions run from the 1970s arcade boom through the 8-bit and handheld years to modern hits like The Witcher 3, Among Us and Grand Theft Auto V. Expect questions on iconic characters, landmark consoles, best-sellers and famous lines of dialogue. It suits casual players, lifelong gamers and anyone hosting a quiz night with a few controllers in the room.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What era does the quiz cover?
Everything from the 1972 arcade era to games of the 2020s, across arcades, home consoles, handhelds and PC.
Do I need to be a hardcore gamer?
No. Roughly half the questions are famous names and dates most people know, while the rest reward players who remember release years, studios and in-game details.
Can I replay the quiz?
Yes. Refresh the page to reset it and try to beat your score, or challenge a friend to play the same 15 questions.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- What year was the original "Pong" arcade game released by Atari?
1972 Atari released Pong in November 1972, and its first test cabinet at Andy Capp's Tavern in California stopped working within days because the coin box was jammed full of quarters. Magnavox had shown a similar tennis game on its Odyssey console earlier in 1972, and Atari later paid to settle a patent claim. - What is the best-selling video game of all time (as of 2025)?
Minecraft Minecraft passed 300 million copies sold in 2023, well clear of Grand Theft Auto V, which has sold more than 200 million. Microsoft bought Minecraft developer Mojang for 2.5 billion dollars in 2014, five years after Markus 'Notch' Persson first released the game. - What is the name of the protagonist in "The Legend of Zelda" series?
Link Link is the green-clad hero of every Zelda game, while Zelda is the princess he usually rescues, which is why so many people get the names mixed up. Shigeru Miyamoto based the original 1986 game on his childhood explorations of caves and woods around Kyoto. - Which company developed the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)?
Nintendo Nintendo built the NES, released in Japan as the Famicom in 1983 and in North America in 1985, where it revived the games market after the 1983 crash. The US launch bundle included a light gun and the R.O.B. robot so that toy stores would stock it as a toy rather than a video game. - In what game do players survive on a blocky, procedurally generated 3D world?
Minecraft Minecraft generates an almost endless world of blocks where players mine resources, build shelters and survive the night against creepers and zombies. A single Minecraft world is limited to roughly 30 million blocks in each direction from its center, an area several times bigger than the surface of Earth. - What was Sega's last home console before exiting the hardware market?
Sega Dreamcast The Dreamcast launched in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in the US, but weak sales against the PlayStation 2 led Sega to quit hardware in 2001. It was the first console to ship with a built-in modem for online play, and it introduced Shenmue, Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. - Which iconic game character was originally called "Jumpman"?
Mario In the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong the hero was simply called Jumpman; he was renamed Mario after Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord, Mario Segale. Mario got a mustache, cap and overalls because they were easier to draw at a low pixel resolution than a mouth, hair and moving arms. - Which battle royale game, created by Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene, launched into Steam Early Access in March 2017?
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds arrived on 23 March 2017 and hit more than three million concurrent Steam players that December, a peak no game has matched since. Fortnite's free battle royale mode followed in September 2017 and quickly overtook PUBG in player numbers on consoles and mobile. - Which console introduced motion-controlled gaming to a mainstream audience in 2006?
Nintendo Wii The Wii launched in November 2006 with a motion-sensing remote that made Wii Sports a hit with families and retirement homes alike, and it sold more than 101 million units. Nintendo's 'blue ocean' strategy deliberately targeted non-gamers rather than competing with the more powerful PS3 and Xbox 360 on graphics. - What is the name of the fictional city in the Grand Theft Auto V (2013)?
Los Santos Los Santos is Rockstar's parody of Los Angeles, complete with a Vinewood sign, and it sits in the fictional state of San Andreas alongside rural Blaine County. GTA V cost an estimated 265 million dollars to make and market, and earned 800 million dollars on its first day on sale in 2013. - Which game studio created "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt"?
CD Projekt Red CD Projekt Red, based in Warsaw, released The Witcher 3 in 2015, adapting Andrzej Sapkowski's Polish fantasy novels about the monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. The studio's follow-up, Cyberpunk 2077, had a famously rough 2020 launch before being rebuilt around the Phantom Liberty expansion in 2023. - Which handheld console, launched in 1989 with Tetris as its killer app, went on to sell about 118 million units including its Color successor?
Nintendo Game Boy Nintendo's Game Boy was chunky and monochrome, but its low price, long battery life and Tetris pack-in crushed the more powerful Game Gear and Atari Lynx. Pokémon Red and Green arrived in Japan in 1996, late in the Game Boy's life, and the first generation became its best-selling game with more than 31 million copies sold. - In "Among Us," what are the impostor's sabotage targets on the Skeld map?
Reactor, O2, lights, and communications On The Skeld, impostors can sabotage the reactor, oxygen, lights and communications, and also lock doors, forcing crewmates to abandon tasks and fix them. Among Us launched quietly in 2018 and only exploded in 2020, when streamers picked it up during lockdown and it reached around half a billion monthly players. - Which game features the quote "War. War never changes."?
Fallout Ron Perlman first delivered 'War. War never changes.' in the 1997 original, and the line has opened every main Fallout game in the series since. The Fallout TV series on Amazon Prime in 2024 sent player numbers for Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 to record highs nearly a decade after their release. - Which 1980 Namco arcade game was designed by Toru Iwatani to appeal to women and was reportedly inspired by a pizza with a slice missing?
Pac-Man Pac-Man, released in Japan as Puckman in 1980, was built around eating rather than shooting, and it went on to gross billions of dollars in quarters. Pac-Man has a 'kill screen' at level 256, where a bug scrambles half the maze and makes the level impossible to finish.
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