Okay, so the other day I got this wild idea. You know how the Olympics are coming up, right? And everyone’s always so hyped about Jeopardy? I thought, why not mash them together? A Jeopardy game… about the Olympics! Here’s how I went about building it.
Brainstorming the Categories
First things first, I needed categories. I couldn’t just throw anything in there. It had to be Olympics-related, but also diverse enough to be, you know, Jeopardy! worthy. So, I sat down with a pen and paper – yes, old school – and just started jotting down ideas.
- Ancient Games: Stuff about the original Olympics in Greece.
- Modern Marvels: Big moments from the modern Olympic era.
- Host Cities: Questions about the cities that have hosted.
- Record Breakers: All about those insane Olympic records.
- Beyond the Podium: The controversies, the politics, the weird stuff that happens.
I made sure to pick category with broad topic.
Gathering the Clues and Answers
This was the real grind. I spent hours, seriously hours, digging through websites, old books, even some documentaries. I wanted a good mix of easy, medium, and hard questions. I was aiming for that classic Jeopardy! feel, you know? I made a huge spreadsheet – one tab for each category – and started filling it in. The “answer” (which is really the question in Jeopardy!) had to be phrased just right. It was tougher than I thought!
For instance, under “Ancient Games,” I had:
- (Answer/Clue): This ancient competition was held in honor of Zeus.
- (Question): What is the Olympic Games?
See? It’s all backwards! I kept reminding myself of that.
Putting It All Together
I decided to make the display board by hand.
I grabbed color pens, and some markers.
Then I hand-written clues on it.
It really did what I expected!
The Test Run
Finally, I roped my family into being my first contestants. It was… interesting. There were some clues that were way too easy, some that were ridiculously hard, and some that I just plain messed up the wording on. But overall? It was FUN! We laughed a lot, learned some stuff, and I got some great feedback on how to make it better.
It’s still a work in progress, for sure. But it’s been a blast to create. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll actually host a real “Jeopardy! during the Olympics” night! For now, though, it’s just a fun little project that’s got me even more excited for the Games.
