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In-Depth Review
TV Show King
Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 9:45 AM - by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
TV Show King can best be described as a combination between Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. Create your avatar and play three, six, or nine rounds of trivia questions against three other opponents, with a wheel spin after each round and a face-off between the top two contestants after the final one. The game boasts more than 3,000 questions across six categories, with three levels of difficulty available.
The difficulty level dictates how quickly AI opponents answer a question and how likely they are to choose the correct one. You can see who has selected each of the four answers, which gives you better guessing odds if you wait while the timer counts down, although you earn more money for a faster answer. In the final round, the player who chooses first gets credit for being right, if both contestants select the same correct answer.
I found the computer opponents to be tough competitors at the middle difficulty setting, with the challenge appropriately scaling up or down on the harder or easier setting. You can also take on live opponents locally or via the Internet, although I couldn't find any games happening when I looked, so I don't know how active the servers are. I tried on a weekend, when I expected more people to be around. You can also upload your scores to a leader board that updates continuously.
Yes, the questions get tougher
I like trivia, so I found TV Show King to be enjoyable. The wheel spin between rounds, which you can turn off if you want, gives the game some unpredictability, since it affords opportunities to win or lose a lot more money. You can always decline the wheel spin when it's your turn, although if the money totals are close, I recommend spinning because everyone else will likely do it too, at least when it comes to the computer opponents. The money totals can change drastically if you sit on your hands.
The final round
The look and feel of the game is solid, complete with a smarmy announcer and his well-endowed assistant. There are some syncing problems between the audio and the animation, however, and sometimes the audio cut out altogether. I got the sense that the game really pushes the iPhone's capabilities; perhaps those issues will ease up when better models arrive.
You can edit your avatar, although for some reason one of the options is cut off on the side of the screen; you can still select it, however. I'm not sure how that bug slipped through the QA process, since iPhone developers are aiming their titles at one platform with a set resolution.
However, those are minor quibbles. TV Show King is a fun game with a lot of replay value, although I'm not sure how much gaming you'll get out of the multiplayer function, unless you know someone else with the game and want to play locally.
Just The Facts
Pros:
Plenty of replay value
Computer opponents aren't pushovers
Good value for five bucks
Cons:
Some audio-visual syncing problems
Couldn't find any online multiplayer games; don't know how active those servers are
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