To be honest we’d pay for a download pack with more Egghead reaction faces.
Out on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
iPad version tested.
£1.49, Offers in-app purchases.
We’re big fans of Barnstorm Games’ apps here at the bar, they’ve been responsible for brilliant versions of The Chase, Tipping Point and most recently Perfection.
Key to their success is not only looking and sounding like the shows but playing pretty much exactly like it with interfaces that feel intuitive. It’s all about the feel. So with this in mind how does Eggheads stack up?
Well happily it’s another winner. Play with up to five players working together as a team to take on the Eggheads in head to head battles, players who win their matches play in the general knowledge finale to play for a rolling jackpot (like Perfection, the jackpot is determined by how many games have been lost recently by players worldwide). If there are fewer than five of you everyone gets at least one round, some may get two and anyone who won a head-to-head goes through to the final.
It plays exactly like the show does in most key ways (the main point of difference is that the sudden death questions are multiple choice as well), you’re not obliged to spend half an hour explaining your choice of answer but there’s nothing stopping you if you want. As it works like the show you’ll have to watch the Egghead take their turn – it is suggested that the real life statistics for each of the Eggheads represents the chance the correct answer will be given, so it should feel like a true reflection of taking them on for real, but it does also mean that occasionally an easy question will come up and a sillier answer is given that you probably wouldn’t expect in real life.
Each of the Eggheads is represented in a lenticular style a bit like in Perfection and they’ve captured some hilarious faces to represent the reactions.
You can if you like play a specialist game with each round the same category but these needs to be unlocked as an in-app purchase. Over 3,500 questions (from the show, so be aware if you’re an avid viewer) are promised, I don’t know if unlocking a pack means you get more questions or you can just play through the ones you’ve got. There’s also a quick play option, a one round shootout against a random Egghead and a random category and it will keep track of streaks. It also keeps a significant amount of statistics not just for you but also the computer Eggheads.
It’s a shame there’s no two (or more) player versus option when the head-to-head duels ought to lend itself well to this sort of thing – how you’d work it for a full show I don’t know as you’d need both players in the final. Also for some reason the theme tune slows down when you’re in a menu.
In summary it’s another Barnstorm app that does pretty much what you’d want it to if you’re a fan of the show. If you don’t like Eggheads it might be a harder sell, but if you like fairly difficult multiple-choice questions in the main then you’re covered.
For transparency: Barnstorm provided us with a copy.