My main issue with quizzes is the effect they always have of highlighting how little I know about the world. Granted, that's not the fault of the quizmaster, but it still seems to sap the fun from the experience.
Which brings us to Total Film Quiz – a simple, single-player question-fest sporting the moniker of the popular film magazine. Flattering myself that I know enough about film to stand a half decent chance, this was one quiz I was actually looking forward to.
Resisting the temptation to make this into too much of a TV gameshow adaptation or blending the essential quiz-based mechanics with some kind of unsuitable mini-game/arcade gameplay was a wise move on the part of developer Finblade. The austere rules amount to answering a series of 20 film-based questions within three lives. Get a question wrong, and you lose a life. Mercifully simple.
Each question begins with a choice of three categories, which differ each time. These could be Actor, Director, Year, Film and other such broad headings under which the questions are filed. They're also organised under a difficulty level, and each new round offers the chance for a $1m, $3m or $5m question. By the end of the 20 questions (or loss of all three lives – whichever comes first), you're expected to raise as much capital as possible.
Every fifth go throws up a Critic Bonus, which awards a whopping $10m if answered correctly but deducts $5m for a wrong answer. There's no option for difficulty level on this bonus round, but it does break the monotony quite superbly and adds a great opportunity to really rack up some points.
Total Film Quiz doesn't really address the inherent problem of the quiz-based game (which either promotes self-satisfaction, if you know the answer, or nurtures frustration when you discover you're shallow and a bit of a dunce), but what it does, it does well and without unnecessary complication.
While elements of the same question crop up again from time to time, the manner in which the multiple-choice questions are generated by the software seems flexible and well populated enough to ensure a good supply of information.
Not exactly a dynamic gaming experience, then, but for a few moments of film-based trivia escapism, Total Film Quiz delivers on its promises.
Total Film Quiz
If quizzes are your bag, Total Film Quiz does exactly what it says on the tin and delivers a hefty supply of questions. Don't expect anything else, though
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.