iWin released the casual game version of popular TV game show Family Feud (download free trial here) some time ago, but it continues to be a top 10 game, so it's worth reviewing. For those who have forgotten the concept, Family Feud polls 100 people for their answer to a question such as "what do people stop to get on the way to work?" and then the player types in guesses as to what the top answers are (newspaper, coffee, etc.), with the more popular answers getting higher points. Later rounds score double or triple points, and if the player beats the average score for the sequence, then the player can enter the Fast Money section which is quicker bonus version of the game - and that's it, with 2,000 question and 10,000 responses.
The overall gameplay closely emulates the TV show without having humans involved - you have the basics of question and answer, and the coolest part is that the game engine does a nice job of recognizing different words. For example, I entered "teddy bear" and the game recognized that as the same answer as "stuffed animal". Family Feud has superb audio effects which really captures the spirit of the game - the host one-liners, the audience cheers and the sound effects are all great, although they become repetitive fairly quickly. The gameplay doesn't change much - it's the same 4 rounds followed by Fast Money each time, and one has the option to play a group or 2 player game, but there is not a lot of depth to the gameplay beyond the core game. The graphics are pretty simple simple - they're functional, giving scores in relatively pleasant colors, but a player doesn't have the idea of any type of human engagement and it feels like a little too cheap of a presentation.
In general, Family Feud does a great job of capturing the spirit of the game show. Is it worth the suggested price of $29.95, $10 more than most casual games? No, it will not have the extended gameplay to be worth purchasing the full version unless the player is a big fan of the game show.
Verdict - good effort, but not worth purchasing the full version unless you're a big fan of the game show. Try it here
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