Family Game Show

Review

Common Sense Media says

Budget trivia/puzzle game is family-friendly fun.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Family Game Show offers three reasonably clean game show-style activities. The word and brain games are completely innocuous and offer difficulty levels suitable for multiple ages, starting around ten and going all the way up to adult. The trivia game has a similar target audience, though parents should be aware that a handful of questions reference violence, sexuality, and controlled substances, though never in explicit ways. Moms and dads may also be interested to know that this game is affiliated with the Game Show Network, and that the station’s logo appears prominently within the game.

  • Positive messages3
    This game promotes social play among family and friends. It also places value on players’ ability to think quickly to answer questions and solve puzzles. The questions broach the subjects of violence, sexuality, and controlled substances, but from the perspective of trivia.
  • Positive role models1
    The game show hosts do little more than explain how each game works and provide updates on game progress. They also offer occasional encouraging comments. Player avatars are shells with blank personalities. The real role models here will be the people with whom players play the game, and will vary accordingly.
  • Ease of play4
    In-game instructions ensure players always know how to proceed. Each game offers three levels of difficulty, the easiest of which is generally suitable for tweens and the hardest of which should prove a good challenge for most moms and dads. The "Generations" setting does a good job of leveling the playing field when contestants' ages vary.
  • Violence1
    The trivia portion of the game contains occasional references to acts of violence from modern history, including a gangster’s slaying.No images are included with these questions.
  • Sex1
    The trivia portion of the game contains infrequent references to sexuality, including panties, homosexuality, and polygamy. No images are included with these questions.
  • Language0
    Not applicable.
  • Consumerism2
    This game is affiliated with the Game Show Network. The GSN logo appears prominently on the box and in the game.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking1
    The trivia portion of the game contains occasional reference to controlled substances, including wine and cigarettes. There is no associated imagery, and none of the game's characters use these substances.
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What's it about?

Affiliated with the Game Show Network, FAMILY GAME SHOW provides players with three original TV game show-style games. After selecting an avatar, players can choose whether to test their knowledge via a simple three-round trivia game called Control Freak, work through a blend of crossword, sudoku, and word search challenges in Puzzle Addict, or exercise their minds in Brain Strain, which offers up a series of 15 different Brain Age-style activities. Each game show comes with three levels of difficulty that deliver appropriate content and time limits for various ages, starting with kids around age ten and moving all the way up to moms and dads.

Is it any good?

 

Family Game Show packs decent value for a $20 title. Its presentation and production values are as rudimentary as you’d expect given the price tag, and the games themselves aren’t terribly original, but the content is solid. The trivia game questions are diverse, well worded, and interesting, and the brain game’s activities are intuitive and can be unexpectedly challenging. It’s a little disappointing that players can’t choose the specific words or numbers they want to solve in Puzzle Addict's crossword and sudoku puzzles, but this restriction isn't a deal-breaker.

Thanks to multiple skill levels and the ability to tailor difficulty to individual players to help level the playing field between kids and grown-ups, this is a game that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Go in with the proper expectations for a budget game and you’ll likely be pleasantly surprised by what Family Game Show delivers.

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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the social nature of game show video games. Do you feel as though your family is drawn closer when your mom, dad, brothers, and sisters have Wii remotes in their hands and are taking turns answering questions? Is the experience better, worse, or the same as a family board game night?

  • Families can also discuss whether Family Game Show does a good job of ensuring the whole family is adequately and fairly challenged. Could you find a skill level that was appropriate for your age? Did the “Generations” mode level the playing field for contestants of different ages?

This review was written by Chad Sapieha

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This review was written by Chad Sapieha
Platforms:Nintendo Wii
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Party
Developer:Storm City Games
Release date:May 4, 2010
Price:$19.99
ESRB rating:E10+ for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violent References
This review was written by Chad Sapieha

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
Our child development rating guidelines

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