If you could talk to any three authors from history, would you pick Jane Austen three times?
Have you read everything Jane Austen has written more than twice?
Do you own the Pride and Prejudice beach towel? (This isn't a joke; that's a real product. It has chapter one printed on it.)

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, Pride and Prejudice the Board Game is probably for you.
If those questions confused, annoyed, or amused you, or if you think this game is based on the Keira Knightley movie, then look elsewhere.

Pride and Prejudice the Board Game, published by Ash Grove Press, is a roll-and-move trivia game for 2 to 4 players. Each player takes on a pair of characters (one male and one female), then races around the board answering questions and collecting tokens before proceeding, with both characters, to Parish Church at the center of the board to be married.

Components:
Overall, the components are flimsy. The cards are printed on rather thin stock and come in sheets with perforations that need to be pulled apart. These pull points are quite visible afterwards. The tokens are likewise thin, and can easily rip when initially removing them from their sheet. The pieces are simply folded cards that you mount in plastic bases. The board is of pretty standard quality, but I've seen better boxes. The instructions are short enough that they can be printed on three pages, and they come on one folded piece of glossy paper.

Rules and Game play:
The rules are quite simple; game mechanics can be mastered in less than three minutes.

To begin, each player chooses a pair of characters, and each of their characters will begin at different places on the board. You may choose from Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy, who begin at Longbourn and Pemberley respectively; Lydia Bennet & Mr. Wickham, who begin at Longbourn and the militia regiment respectively; Jane Bennet & Mr. Bingley, who begin at Longbourne and Netherfield respectively; and Charlotte Lucas & Mr. Collins, who begin at Lucas Lodge and Hunsford Parsonage respectively.

When you roll, you may choose to move either of your characters, and they may each move in either direction; so for a roll-and-move, at least you've got options. Between your two characters, you must earn five "Regency Life" tokens and three "Novel" tokens. "Regency Life" tokens are bought with Shillings, and you earn those by passing over certain squares. When you land on a "Regency Life" square, you must draw a card from a deck of the same name. This deck contains pretty standard roll-and-move stuff, dressed up with amusing references to early Victorian life, for example: "Oops! Your lady's lace tucker has slipped, exposing too much flesh at the Netherfield ball! Send her home immediately to make repairs." Some "Regency" cards are helpful and give you Shillings or tokens, and some are harmful and move you around the board.

When you land on a "Novel" space, you must answer a trivia question from the novel. Do this three times and you earn the "Novel Tokens" necessary to win the game. Many of the questions are quite obscure; I’ve read the novel several times and I teach it, and although I was able to answer them, I found it unlikely that a casual reader would have as much luck... and if you're going in with only knowledge of a film version of the story, you'll get frustrated easily.

Once you've got the necessary tokens, you must bring both of your character tokens to the Parish Church in the middle of the board, and you must enter the church with an exact roll. If you miss the exact roll, you still must circle the block until you get it. This sort of silliness in the end game can be a bit tedious.

All in all, if you love, and I mean really love the novel, you should add this to your collection of Jane Austen collectibles. Even then, you'll play it once then just hold onto it for the novelty (no pun intended) after that. If you've never read Austen, on the other hand, you'll find this game quite worthless to you.