Music videos, arcade games, big hair and bigger headlines. Ten questions to find out how much of the decade actually stuck.
Ten questions covering the decade of MTV, Live Aid and the Walkman. Whether you lived through it or just inherited the playlists, let's see what you've got.
Pick your level
The 1980s packed a lot into ten years: MTV turned musicians into movie stars, arcades swallowed every quarter in sight, and a plastic cube from Hungary drove the entire planet mad. It was the decade of shoulder pads and synthesizers, of Reagan and Thatcher, of a Walkman clipped to every belt and a mixtape in every pocket.
This quiz digs into the moments that defined the decade: the first video ever played on MTV, the concert that stopped the world for a day, the cliffhanger that had everyone asking the same question all summer, and the marketing blunder so famous it's still taught in business schools. Ten questions, a few curveballs, and one simple goal: prove your 80s memory is more than just a Spotify playlist.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Sony
Sony, and suddenly everybody had a soundtrack on the bus.
Correct answer: George Michael
George Michael, in a leather jacket and with a guitar.
Correct answer: The Goonies
The Goonies, and Chunk's Truffle Shuffle lives on.
Correct answer: Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher, in office from 1979 to 1990.
Correct answer: Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan, once the star of Bedtime for Bonzo, alongside a chimpanzee.
Correct answer: Ferris Bueller
Ferris Bueller, and it is one very expensive Ferrari that pays for it.
Correct answer: Luigi
Luigi, the taller one in green.
Correct answer: Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper, in 1983. The original song was written by Robert Hazard.
Correct answer: The A-Team
The A-Team, and he really did not want to get on that plane.
Correct answer: The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid, which marked Disney's return to form.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles
MTV went on air at 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 1981, and opened with the Buggles. The song title was a deliberate wink at what the channel was about to do to the music industry.
Correct answer: 1985
Live Aid was held on July 13, 1985 at Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium, organized by Bob Geldof to fight famine in Ethiopia. Queen's 20-minute set is still hailed as one of the greatest live performances ever.
Correct answer: A DeLorean DMC-12
The gull-winged DeLorean became a movie icon in 1985, three years after the DeLorean Motor Company itself had gone bankrupt. Early drafts of the script used a refrigerator instead.
Correct answer: Pac-Man
Pac-Man was released by Namco in 1980. Designer Toru Iwatani said the character's shape was inspired by a pizza with a slice missing.
Correct answer: Dallas
The Dallas cliffhanger gripped audiences for eight months. The reveal episode in November 1980 drew an estimated 83 million viewers in the US alone. The shooter was Kristin Shepard, J.R.'s scheming sister-in-law.
Correct answer: 1989
The Wall fell on November 9, 1989, after East German spokesman Günter Schabowski botched a press conference and suggested the borders were open effective immediately. Crowds took him at his word.
Correct answer: Thriller by Michael Jackson
Thriller, released on November 30, 1982, still tops the all-time sales charts. Seven of its nine tracks were released as singles, and every one of them reached the US top 10.
Correct answer: Architecture
Rubik taught architecture in Budapest and built the cube in 1974 to help explain spatial relationships. Once it hit Western shelves in 1980, it sold in the hundreds of millions.
Correct answer: Tetris
Bundling Tetris was a masterstroke: the simple Soviet puzzle game appealed to everyone, not just kids, and helped the Game Boy family sell over 100 million units worldwide.
Correct answer: New Coke
New Coke triggered such a backlash, with up to 8,000 angry calls a day, that the company reinstated the old formula as Coca-Cola Classic after just 79 days. It remains a textbook marketing lesson.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott, fresh from Blade Runner.
Correct answer: Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev, in office from 1985.
Correct answer: John Lennon
John Lennon, outside the Dakota building, on 8 December.
Correct answer: 1981
1981, at St Paul's Cathedral, with hundreds of millions watching.
Correct answer: U2
U2, with With or Without You and a lot of Californian desert.
Correct answer: Exxon Valdez
The Exxon Valdez, which struck a reef in Prince William Sound.
Correct answer: Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona, who scored a far more legitimate wonder goal four minutes later.
Correct answer: Norway
Norway, and the pencil-sketch video did the rest.
Correct answer: Amadeus
Amadeus, by Miloš Forman, and yes, that laugh.
Correct answer: The Personal Computer
The IBM PC, model 5150, running an operating system from a young company named Microsoft.