Classic Concentration

The Good
This game is based on an old TV game show of the same name. After selecting your player(s) and entering your name, the contestant is presented with the game board - a large screen filled with 25 numbered rectangles, which cover the main puzzle. The player selects 2 rectangles per turn, attempting to match the prizes listed on the back. Once you've made a match, the two rectangles are removed and a piece of the underneath puzzle is revealed. There are also 2 Wild Cards in play - once clicked, you can click any other tile and the prize will be yours, and the pieces revealed. You're given an option to solve the puzzle after each match, but this is usually not possible until only a few rectangles remain. The puzzle is typically made up of a combination of images, numbers, and letters - together they form a common phrase or saying. Play continues until someone can successfully interpret the images and solve the puzzle.

If you successfully solve the puzzle, you move on to the Final round, a speed round in which you match tiles that have numbers on the front and types of cars on the back. Match them all in 35 seconds or less, and you'll take home the car written on the last match you make!

My favorite part of the game is simple nostalgia - I remember this game vividly from my childhood. Back then, it was definitely a challenge to make words and phrases out of a series of pictures, especially being a naive kid at the time! It was also a kick to pretend that the prizes won were actually going to be mine. High scores are only kept for as long as your winning streak continues.

The Bad
The game doesn't seem to be programmed to accept variations of the correct answer, it seems rigid in accepting something close. For instance, a puzzle's answer was "There's safety in numbers", and I typed "There is safety in numbers" and got a "Wrong Answer" message. My CPU opponent then quickly solved with the correct answer! Definitely not cool, as there was no indication in the puzzle itself that a contraction ("there's") was any more appropriate than the full words ("there is").

Remembering from my childhood, I recall that after awhile, the puzzles repeat themselves. Once you can start recognizing the solution with only a few tiles removed, the game loses its appeal.

The AI seems pretty standard for games of the day - the first round or two you play, your computer opponent is clueless and might not even make a match the entire round. After you win a couple puzzles, suddenly they're making matches like crazy and might even solve the puzzle before half the tiles are removed! Definitely not crazy about that...

High scores are temporary - if you play as the same character you won with before, you put your Returning Champion status at risk each time you play! Lose, and you'll be wiped off the scoreboard...

The Bottom Line
It's an old-time game that is fun to reminisce and kill time with. The challenge is still the same as it always was, figuring out the puzzles!