I knew my optimism couldn't last! I had a good go at Crossword Quiz last night on the same ItBox (still the only place where I have seen these new games) and it looks like a total dud. In a similar way to the debacle that is Crazy Golf 2 they have basically taken a current game (Quids for Grids) and simply made it much harder:Nil Satis wrote:I've only seen these in one location so I don't know how common they are yet but all seem worth looking out for:
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Top of the Pops
I was amazed to see this. Despite a really ropey colour scheme/look and feel it is basically Top of the Pops 2 with a new question set, and hence it is definitely good news if this one gets a general release. The only slight quirk seems to be that it has a lot more 'NOT' questions in the set, e.g. "Which of these musicians was NOT ever in Blondie?" which is fine unless you play it straight after Every Loser Wins, in which case it really addles your brain!
Crossword Quiz
I didn't get a chance to play this but it should definitely be worth a look - I'm assuming it isn't just a rebrand of Quids for Grids.
In general, the new games all seem more promising than the vast proportion of recent releases.
"Nil Satis in Optimistic Post Shocker!"
(a) you have to complete the whole crossword to win anything, as opposed to getting points for each completed word. Don't ask me what you win as I gave up trying after several futile games
(b) you have to answer a question for every single letter, so if there are six E's on the grid you have to answer six questions. Although you get a few free letters to start with you are looking at around 30 questions to complete a grid and naturally you soon move into spoiler territory
(c) there was no sign of any useful bonuses (or indeed any bonuses at all)
If this pub is indeed being used as a test site, then the company involved can take it from me - your game is garbage, please place it in the appropriate receptacle!
As for the revamped Top of the Pops 2, it is the same basic game but I'd say the questions have got noticeably harder. The one useful new feature is the Top Scores table:
(a) anything that encourages repeated play by punters is good
(b) you can see if anyone has 'cleared' the machine beforehand, although the top score of circa 4000 on this box didn't really explain why it was so tight!
I managed to find an old-style Top of the Pops 2 on an Ind:e in London t'other day and won £8, £6 and £6 on the first three goes before it clammed up - now THAT was a game!
Bah humbug...