Animal Planet Trivia Challenge

If an Animal Planet Trivia Challenge game approaches you in the wild should you:

A) Climb a tree
B) Buy it
C) Play dead

If you said B, you've wasted your hard-earned dollar, as Animal Planet Trivia Challenge is hardly worth the price of admission.

As you'd expect from a game with the words 'Animal' and 'Trivia' in the title, this is a quiz game, the main focus of which is the estimated 8.7 million species of animal out there in the wild world, not counting homo sapiens of course.

It's a hefty subject for what is essentially a series of pub quiz-style multiple choice questions, occasionally spiced up with a limited variety of mini-games.

There are three difficulty modes, with questions ranging from general animal knowledge, like 'what is a beluga?', to A Question of Sport style visual clues. For example after memorising a picture of a ladybird you'll be asked how many spots it had on its back.

A Catchphrase-style round has a picture slowly revealed piece by piece, and the sooner you hazard a guess as to what it might be the more potential points you can earn.

The problem with these questions is that you never feel excited about the prospect of another one. It's much more like a primary school test than a pub quiz.

And just like the touchscreen quiz box at your local city pub, there are moments that test the nerves.

As time ticks down you have to occasionally match words with pictures, but the fact that it can be difficult to see what picture you've got highlighted at any time means it's easy to make a mistake, not through lack of knowledge but through lack of precise control.

No matter what mode you pick, it's a short game - most play-throughs are over in five minutes. On completion of a quiz you'll be given a rating based on your highscore, from lowly bug to elegant hummingbird.

You'll also be given a ream of stats, all the better for boasting to your mates.

But after two or three play-throughs, even the most ardent of animal lovers will have tired of the game. Apart from the aforementioned questions there's little else on offer.

There's no reward for success apart from the highscore feature. The game cries out for unlockable achievements or trophies or something tangible to measure your success.

As it stands, after a single ten-question round you'll feel like you've seen everything the game has to offer, and - apart from more questions- you will have.

If you know a lot about animals and you want to show off your knowledge to your friends, you might consider Animal Planet Trivia Challenge. But should you require an engaging and replayable game, we recommend you play dead until this one passes by.