This is what happens when a game show junkie reviews “Family Feud 2”

I will admit it: I am a game show junkie. When I am at work, I have three TVs that I get to control, and one of them is always trained on the Game Show Network. Sometimes I will be helping a customer, muttering answers under my breath, or get caught watching it while they figure out what they need or as they consider their purchases. On my days off I always get up and watch “Let’s Make a Deal,” “The Price is Right,” and I mean – WHO doesn’t?

Some of the most accessible games are the ones that anyone can do. For instance “Jeopardy” is not for everyone because the questions go right over their head or they don’t really have all the answers. On the other end of the spectrum are games like “Deal or No Deal” – there is little to no effort in those games – play Russian roulette with briefcases. It would be something if the briefcases needed to be disarmed like a bomb… or maybe you have to do a physical challenge to get them. But I mean… “I WANT NUMBER 4! Did I win? No… oh well.”

So there are various ends of the spectrum that you can go with when it comes to game shows. But you take a game like “Family Feud” and you just… get it. The formula is so simple. We surveyed some people – guess what they said?! You are going to get the occasional one that drives you crazy because it is like “who would even answer with that!”… or the same can be said about what the contestant guesses. There is a great video online of the best “Family Feud” answers with Steve Harvey. It’s it well worth the watch if you haven’t seen it. “Name a phrase or item that has pork in it.” “-UPINE!” “What?… did you just say… Qpine?” “You know – PORK-U-PINE!”

The whole idea in the game is it is fun, an easy structure, and even the simplest of questions can really get you. It is all so easy when you’re at home and think you have all the answers, right? Well, if this app has shown me anything it is that, no – no you don’t have the answers.

Limited and Confusing Responses 

It falls into one of the classic app issues – they only programmed so many questions in the game. So there will be some people you play against that will just have the answers. This means you have no way of beating them unless you know each question. I can see why people would memorize some of the questions because they are very… vague.

At times it seems like they want specifics or something of the sort, when in reality you realize after the fact they wanted synonyms. For instance, a question I got was “Words to describe a Mobster,” and my answers were along the line of ugly, oily, violent, degenerate. But in reality what they wanted was: racketeer, bootlegger, gangster, and crook. I am not one to argue with the people who took the surveys or made the game, but those are not descriptions. They are other names or at the very least other names for mobsters.

To its credit, the game does help us when typing. True to the actual game show, you have about 3-5 seconds to answer. Each question gives you 25 seconds to try and get all the answers before 3 strikes. So when you’re trying to spell something, it quickly tries to predict what your trying to write and highlight it for you.

The Game Helps You…Cheat?

 

For instance, the question was a box office actor. I wanted to put in Brad Pitt, but by the time that I put in Bra – it had Brad Pitt as one of the choices. And it is a slight way to cheat, for instance another answer I wanted to go with was Leonardo DiCaprio – and it took me to spelling it all out that I realized that good ole Leo was nixed out yet another correct answer (the other being… “and the award goes to.. “) because the fact he wasn’t an answer meant I knew it was wrong.

Game Play

You play against another opponent who already answered these questions prior to you. So they answer the same questions they have, and you just have to beat their points. And true to the game show, they could come back to win it right with the last question. So kudos for that. I have not experienced a simple take away victory yet, but I have had a few quick losses – people clearly knowing all the answers – which is a little bit of a bummer.

Amuse Yourself With This Game…Then Delete It

This game will probably hold your attention for a hour or so. You have to spend gold on the match ups in order to play in a mock form of an energy system. Its not a renewable resource. You an get a daily bonus, but once your money is gone, it’s gone. I will never understand why games make it that you have to STOP playing their game and wait. That only makes me lose interest and quick prematurely.  The game is also based on a gold system, meaning you have to buy to play.  Of course you get the gold for logging on and winning, but eventually you’ll either have to wait or make an in-app purchase.

If you win the last round you get a small bonus, but you have to get 200 points. Not a problem right? Well… unlike the show you only have one shot to get 200 points. Not 2 rounds with the same 5 questions. I’ve missed it by about 5-10 points but unless you get every question as the number one answer – you will not win. So, quickly your “energy” will run out. The only way around this would be to just keep coming back daily, getting your bonus for like a week and then go on a question answering bender!

Something Missing

Ultimately there is something missing in the game. I can look past a lot of other things, but  it is just the feeling you get while watching the show that would be hard to emulate in the tablet game. It is just… rushed. I’ve seen videos online of Family Feud without the fluff… where they literally cut out all the jokes, and all the hesitation and what not. They condensed a 30 minute show down’t to 3 minutes. Thats what MAKES the game what it is.

I know it would be very very hard to do that in a game, to make it full of quips and funny little asides. But the game itself is just too fast. You start the game, pick a challenger, the questions go by every 30 seconds (quicker if you make 3 quick wrong answers), and there is little to be said for each answer. It seems like the voice audio guy is sped up or they hired the micro machine guy to do the voices. At one point I made a really wrong answer by misspelling it, and it sounded like this: “IfthatsrightI’lleatmyhat, ohsosorrymovingon. Letsseethenumberoneanswernumbertwonumberthree! Nextquestion!” There was no punctuation, no feeling, no time to breathe. Just go go go.

Its fun for a little bit, but in reality – will I be coming back? Probably not unless I had much else to do, or wanted to spend time before my food gets to the table at a restaurant for a little quick entertainment. But beyond that, it isn’t worth the money. Oh, wait – it was free! So what did you really expect?