If you like the television game show Jeopardy, you may find some appeal in the Windows Phone version of the trivia game. Jeopardy is another Sony Pictures Television release (we saw Wheel of Fortune hit the Store shelves earlier) and is a decent model of the popular game.
Game play follows along the same lines as the Game Show with the Daily Double, the Double Jeopardy round and the Final Jeopardy round all being present. There's room for improvement with Jeopardy that deals with user interface and avatars (an acquired taste) but for the most part Jeopardy comes across as a decent trivia game for your Windows Phone but with the lack of a trial version it may not appeal to everyone.
Jeopardy's main menu has options to play the game, access the game's options, view your gaming career stats, access the help screen and view the about page.
Gaming options allow you to customize your gaming avatar, customize your player signature for the game podium, mute the sound and reset the your career. The avatars are a little rough on the eye and look more like characters out of Fable than game show contestants. Then again, if your a Fable fan these avatars will be right up your alley. All it needs is a few Balverine avatars... but I digress.
The game itself has three difficulty levels, a solo mode (no opponents) and a pass and play mode where you can have up to three players. Game play follows the traditional game of Jeopardy where you are presented with a game board with various topics and cash values. Tap on a value and you are present the answer to a trivia question. You have a few seconds to read the question and can either respond or pass on answering. If you choose to respond you will be given three choices for the question that matches the answer. Choose the wrong answer and you lose that dollar amount and your opponents get a chance at answering. The trivia is challenging but you do have to speed read at times.
It takes about twenty minutes to play a full game of Jeopardy and if you need to shut it down before you wrap things up, the game will save your progress and you can continue things later.
While Jeopardy is a decent trivia game for your Windows Phone there is room for improvement. The avatars just seem out of place and there is way too much tapping going on. In playing Jeopardy it felt like I was tapping the screen every second to proceed to the next screen. There really needs to be some automatic screen progression. Otherwise you may get blisters on your finger tips from tapping so much.
The biggest knock against Jeopardy will be the lack of a trial version to let you try before you buy. A one round trial version would give everyone a feel for whether or not this game is for them. Jeopardy is currently running $1.99 and I can see some being disappointed in shelling out that much for the game. If the pricing point was $.99 I would easily say that Jeopardy is worth taking a chance on. I will say this though... after playing a handful of rounds, Jeopardy does grow on you.
As with Sony's other gaming release, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy is more likely for the die-hard fans of the game show. For those willing to take the plunge you can find Jeopardy here at the Windows Phone Store.
Thanks, Jeremy, for the tip!
