Split Second was published in 1992 by Parker Brothers. It is a trivia game, one that has really easy questions. As the box says, " It's not what you know, it's how fast you know it."
Best played with 4 to 6 players, Split Second is not a game for those who like to think. Each player has a modified crayon, with a tip that plugs into a plastic flip paddle, powered by a rubber band. This paddle flips into the central hub, a circular teal base with the logo in the middle, and 12 holes evenly spaced around the outside. Each flipper has two little bumps on it, those plug into the central hub to allow 6 to play.
Play begins with one selected person (select however you want) rolling a six-sided die, with labels from 1-5, and a blank face. This person reads a question from the set of cards that are present, with 5 numbered questions on each side. If the die comes up blank, the reader can choose.
Before the question is read, everyone's crayons are plugged into the hole of the flip, preventing it from flipping into the hub. Once the question is read, everyone scrawls their answers on the plastic paddle, and then releases the paddle. It flies through the air and lands on the hub.
The questions are usually about most everything although the answers are only in the form of a number, letter, or short acronym. Examples:
1 In what year was the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska? 1989
2 What percent of the Earth is covered by water? 71
3 What number day of the month is my birthday? *
4 Once feared Soviet secret police: the _ _ _. KGB
5 1971 Doors hit: _ _ Woman. LA
The questions are fairly straight forward, excepting number 3. The reader selects the answer, based upon hir history.
The first panel to hit the hub, or the panel on the bottom gets first priority. If the player in charge of that panel is correct, that person gets a point (10 points wins). Otherwise, the next panel up in the stack is checked, and so forth. If everyone gets it wrong, the closest answer wins, regardless of position.
I had good times with this game, and it was fun to ask "How many people have I showered with in the past month?". However, the rubber bands sometimes wouldn't fire right, and so someone who scrawled their answer first would be the last. But the game was interesting regardless.