Jeopardy! Deluxe
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| Jeopardy! Deluxe

Since I don't live in the US, like most readers of this review I'm fairly ignorant of the quiz show that is Jeopardy!

Still, a quiz is a quiz, and it doesn't take a comprehensive knowledge of a show format to enjoy a quiz game spun off from it. That's if the game is any good, at least.

Unfortunately Jeopardy! Deluxe isn't up there with the best of mobile quiz games.

It uses a walked and worn format to deliver the game. You begin by creating an avatar for your contestant, then choose to play through the game on your own or go up against two AI opponents.

Once it begins, the game comes with three standard question-based rounds - Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy (which is exactly the same as Jeopardy but the questions are worth twice as much virtual money) and the end Final Jeopardy round.

With a decent stock of questions, this would all be a bit dull but still playable - there's at least some strategy involved, since buzzing in and getting a question wrong loses you money and you risk ending a round with minus points and getting the boot.

But Jeopardy! Deluxe's questions are dry to say the least. Serious quiz boffins (unlike myself) might get more out of them, but the rest of us will find them slightly challenging.

Questions come in random categories in each game and are worth varying amounts of money - the more they're worth the tougher they are. These categories cover all sorts, but one particularly uninspiring assortment in my game was Arthurian Legend, The Crusades and World Travel. Prior to this, I got six questions about gnats.

Despite being multiple choice - you get four options - questions are set at a tough difficulty level. And while you can alter the difficulty level of your opponents from easy to hard, you can't alter the difficulty level of the questions.

It's not just the difficulty, either. It's the lack of any variety from one question to the next. Put side to side with Buzz: Brain of the UK, Jeopardy! Deluxe is more bland than a celery sandwich. There's no charismatic quiz show host, no sounds of any particular note and no challenges to meet.

You just play through the game again and again, trying to get to the end with as much money as possible, and give up once you've either had all the questions (although there seem to be quite a few included, so it'll take a while) or are too despondent after getting ten questions wrong in a row.

There are plenty of so-so quiz games already out there on mobile phone. In fact, the majority of them - Family Fortunes and Blockbusters to name a couple - are nearer average than outstanding. But at least they come with a little uniqueness, not to mention some entertainment value.

Jeopardy! Deluxe has no such qualities. It doesn't even come with a pass-the-phone two or three-player mode. I've never seen the TV show, and this game doesn't make me want to.

Stick to better quiz games already available, such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and the aforementioned Buzz: Brain of the UK.

Jeopardy! Deluxe

A bland spin-off from the US quiz show. The presentation is average and the questions are boring with a difficulty set too high for most. There are much better quiz game choices out there
Score
Kath Brice
Kath Brice
Kath gave up a job working with animals five years ago to join the world of video game journalism, which now sees her running our DS section. With so many male work colleagues, many have asked if she notices any difference.