Parents' Guide to

Guinness World Records: The Videogame

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Entertaining minigame collection has some crude humor.

Game Nintendo Wii , Nintendo DS 2008
Guinness World Records: The Videogame Poster Image

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

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age 6+

Based on 1 parent review

fflala98
fflala98 Parent
September 12, 2009
age 6+

The Best!!!!!!!

I love it. You get to do crazy things like growing finger nails by following paths. In conclusion, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS: THE VIDEO GAME has players challenging achievements from the Guinness Book of World Records. It focuses on some of the stranger records documented by Guinness, including washing machine tossing, car balancing, and phonebook tearing. There are also some downright goofy and/or gross challenges, such as one that involves eating cockroaches and another that has player avatars smashing watermelons with their foreheads. These events are accessed by moving your character around a small globe and visiting the regions in which the records are held. The ultimate goal of the game is to beat the target marks for each event and unlock a wide variety of virtual goodies, including new outfits for your character, dozens of certificates, and interesting Guinness factoids.

Is It Any Good?

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

Despite its unlikely origin (how many video games are you aware of that are based on books of trivia?), Guinness World Records: The Videogame is actually a smartly designed and surprisingly entertaining play. The world record challenges are well-designed, fun, and unexpectedly physical. Don't be surprised if, after an hour of moving your arm back and forth rapidly to pop balloons, pushing the remote up and down to make a pogo stick bounce, and repeatedly flicking your wrist to toss plungers, you find yourself puffing -- and having a great time.

Unfortunately, the fun may last only a weekend or so. Avid players could burn through all of the game's activities and unlock most of its rewards in just a few days. Still, there's reason to keep at it thanks to online functionality that lets players upload their best performances and see how well they stack up against those of other people in their state, country, or around the world. These online standings suit the game's record-beating theme perfectly and motivate players to put in an extra hour or two of practice on their favourite events to see if they can land a place on their regional, national, or worldwide leaderboards.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the notion of world records, and what sort of achievements should qualify for the distinction. Is the fact that someone is proficient at breaking watermelons with his or her forehead reason enough to create an official record that others will aspire to beat? Do you think that some Guinness world records are simply too dangerous? Conversely, are there any safe records -- such as memorizing random items or achieving a high score in a well known video game -- that you think you might one day want to challenge? Are there things you can do now to help train yourself?

Game Details

  • Platforms: Nintendo Wii , Nintendo DS
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Release date: November 11, 2008
  • Genre: Party
  • ESRB rating: E10+ for Animated Blood, Comic Mischief, Crude Humor
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

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