Family Game Night 4: The Game Show

Latest in board game-inspired series uses a game show feel.
Kids say
Based on 1 review
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Family Game Night 4: The Game Show
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this game.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Family Game Night 4: The Game Show is based on the Family Game Night TV game show. Instead of two families battling it out, though, the game reduces the number of contestants to just one-vs-one. The game features larger-than-life versions of Hasbro's popular board games, including Yahtzee Bowling, the "Bop It Boptagon" and Connect 4 Basketball. You have to be able to spell to play Scrabble Flash, which is why the suggested age is at 8; however, younger children can play the other games. The game can be played using either traditional controllers or with the Xbox 360 Kinect add-on and the PS3 PlayStation Move controller.
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What’s It About?
FAMILY GAME NIGHT 4: THE GAME SHOW is based on the TV game show Family Game Night, which airs on digital cable and may not be familiar to many players. However, players can easily enjoy this game even if they have never seen the TV show. The game involves players competing through five board game-inspired mini-games: Yahtzee Bowling, Bop It Boptagon, Scrabble Flash, Sorry Sliders, and Connect 4 Basketball. The winning player for each mini-game receives a "Crazy Cash Card" which is worth a random amount of money. Once all five mini-games are complete, the Crazy Cash Card amounts are revealed and the player with the most money is crowned the winner.
Is It Any Good?
The one thing that Family Game Night 4: The Game Show has that distinguishes it from other Hasbro Family Game Night titles is the cohesion between the mini-games. That is to say, instead of each mini-game being played independently from one another, players can compete in "Game Show" mode, which entails playing through each of the mini-games, back-to-back. It makes it easier, and more fun for players to compete in all the board game activities at once. On the flip side, because the mini-games are meant to be played in the context of a rapid-fire game show format, none of the individual mini-games is extensively fleshed out. So, for example, instead of this game offering a full video game version of Yahtzee, there is only Yahtzee Bowling, which lets players create one Yahtzee hand before the game is over. The mini-games work when played in the entire game show format, but there is a sense of emptiness if players just want to play one mini-game at a time. Also, it would have been nice to play with four players instead of just two (or rotating in other players).
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the two different ways to play this game. Do you prefer playing with traditional controls or motion controls?
Does this game make you want to buy the real-life board games?
Did any of the mini-games make you learn anything new?
Game Details
- Platforms: Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Available online?: Not available online
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release date: November 1, 2011
- Genre: Mini-games
- ESRB rating: E for No Descriptors
- Last updated: August 29, 2016
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