Parents' Guide to

Deal or No Deal

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

With no money to win, TV game doesn't transfer well.

Game Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS 2008
Deal or No Deal Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 1 parent review

Hendo H. U.
Hendo H. U. Parent of 10, 12 and 15-year-old
January 5, 2018
age 9+

A bit dull.

Playable for any age, but too confusing for young kids.

This title has:

Easy to play/use
Too much consumerism
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

DEAL OR NO DEAL is an interactive version of the hit TV game show. Guided by virtual comedian Howie Mandel, players use their Wii remotes to select one briefcase randomly from a group of 26, each of which contains a cash value between one penny and one-million dollars. They then proceed to slowly reveal the contents of the cases they didn't pick, stopping occasionally to receive a cash offer from a faceless banker who calculates the odds that the briefcase the player picked contains the million dollars.

The game's makers have added a few optional variations that increase the player's chances of winning and allow several players to compete simultaneously. They've also thrown in a few simple mini-games that have almost nothing to do with the show, such as blackjack game and a challenge that involves pointing the remote at the screen and shooting flying briefcases.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (2):

Though a spot-on digital facsimile of what we see on television, Deal or No Deal is an extraordinarily vacuous video game, probably because there is no real money involved. Play follows the same pattern as the TV show. There's no strategy involved other than calculating simple odds, and with no real money is at risk, you have nothing to lose by eliminating cases until you get to the final two, then choosing which one you want to keep. This makes the action about as compelling as a coin toss. Consequently, even a single, five-minute game feels like a tremendous waste of time.

The developers seem to have understood that the premise they'd been given for their game was flimsy at best, hence the reason why they added a few variables, such as a mode that features additional million-dollar cases thrown into the mix, as well as three extremely simple and completely unrelated mini-games, which, unfortunately, hardly even qualify as distractions. Asking $30 for a game like this, seems off when it has the longevity of a free promotional game for your phone, at best.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the concept of gambling. What are the hallmarks of gambling? Is it gambling if no real money is used? Is it gambling if the game involves none of your own money? Can you be skilled at Deal or No Deal, or does the outcome depend entirely on chance? You can also discuss why none of the briefcase models are men and the manner in which host Howie Mandel interacts with these virtual women.

Game Details

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