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Help Wanted

(2009, Video Games - Mini Games, Rated E10+, Play it on: Nintendo Wii)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 8, age appropriate for kids over 10; suggested age 10.
  • Is it any good?

    4.0
  • Common Sense says

    Weird and witty minigame compilation with some iffy humor.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 10 and Up

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Not an issue.
  • Messages:

    Players assume the role of a teenager who must take on odd jobs to earn money to buy items that will help save the world from an impending meteor strike. The premise is pretty wacky, but the themes of work and responsibility are refreshing. There are a few childish shenanigans, including a bit of fart humor and a game that has players pulling out cavity-ridden teeth.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Meteors destroy buildings, but no one is injured. Virtually all of the 50 mini-games are free of violence, save one in which players assume the role of a ninja and proceed to kick and punch their foes.
  • Sex:

    Various references to sexuality, but nothing overt. There is talk of dating, and one character threatens to ride around the neighborhood naked on his bicycle. One sequence involves a vague, blurred-out object seen in outer space that is described by one character as “unspeakable.”
  • Language:

    Nothing stronger than the word “idiot.”
  • Consumerism:

    The game features a quartet of television shopping networks. All of the money players earn is spent here with an aim to collect reward points, which are in turn used to purchase items that can help stop an impending meteor strike.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Not an issue.
 

What Parents Need to Know

This review of Help Wanted was written by Chad Sapieha

Parents need to know that this game has a sense of humor that is slightly more mature than that of the average Wii mini-game compilation. Joke subjects include flatulence, an idle threat of nudity, and a vague, "unspeakable" space object that has been blurred out. That said, there are also several positive themes, such as working to earn money, and saving the planet. A small amount of violence takes place in one mini-game that stars ninjas, but the rest of the game's activities are quite innocuous. Note, too, that consumerism plays a role: The protagonist regularly browses and makes purchases from a quartet of television shopping networks.

Families Can Talk About

Talk to your kids about the media in their life. We have more tools and tips that can help
  • Families can talk about employment, earning an income, and the responsibilities inherent in both. Have you considered taking on an after-school or summer job to earn a little extra money? What would you do with that money? Do you think that this game accurately represents the jobs it depicts? Does it seem believable that one might be able to work as, say, an aerial photographer, a dentist, and a circus clown in the space of just a few days?
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More on Help Wanted

What’s the Story?

HELP WANTED is perhaps the most bizarre and eclectic Wii mini-game compilation yet. Players step into the shoes of a teenager who is forced to take on odd jobs in order to earn money. This cash is spent on items sold over fictional television shopping networks. For each item purchased, players earn reward points that they can spend on items that will help them defend the planet from an enormous meteor hurtling toward the Earth. Wacky narrative twists -- at one point our teen's anime-style mug morphs into a much more realistic countenance (which, oddly, other characters find repugnant) -- take place at regular intervals.

The jobs themselves seem oddly normal in light of the strange story. Using the Wii remote and nunchuk's motion-sensitive and infrared features, players pull carrots in a farm, teach a class of students, cook food, deliver packages, and perform manicures. There are no less than 50 of these jobs, and players will become very familiar with all of them as they play through a surprisingly lengthy single-player story mode and challenge their friends in two-player competitive play.

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Is It Any Good?

Clearly, Help Wanted isn't a standard collection of mini-games. Not only does it offer up a truly eccentric narrative made to seem all the more odd by the seemingly mundane jobs that our protagonist takes on, it also delivers a surprisingly deep single-player mode that ought to take most players several days to work through. The mini-games, though not particularly innovative, take time to master, and come with three levels of ascending difficulty (and increasing monetary reward) that are unlocked as players improve their skills. And with a variety of game variables -- such as helpful support items available through the shopping networks that aid players in mini-games (like better work gloves for carrot pulling) and a variety of random events (such as younger siblings who occasionally hide said support items) -- players are always kept on their toes. How much players enjoy this strange little game will likely depend directly on their level of appreciation for quirky Japanese humor.

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Publisher’s Details

Released on 5/13/2009, price $29.99, not online enabled
ESRB rating: E10+ (for Comic Violence, Mild Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes)

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Parent Reviewer
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title on for age 6 and give it 5.0

    a very good wii game

  2. Kid Reviewer Age 11
    Lives in Oklahoma
    I rate this title on for age 6 and give it 5.0

    this rocks

    i love this game my parents dont want me to grow up so fast me either

  3. Kid Reviewer Age 9
    Lives in California
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 1.0

    help wanted

    people care what i think because they love me or they are my best friend

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