Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Jellyvision	Ages 10 and up

Rating Scale 5 = great,    1 = poor

Educational Value 3.2

Kid Appeal 4.0

Ease of Use 5.0

System Requirements

PC / Mac Price Survey

Product Support

Based on "TV's hot quiz show", and hosted by Regis Philbin, Who Wants to be a Millionaire lets kids and their families test their trivia knowledge in an effort to win a virtual million. The game itself is structured much like the television show. Users are asked 15 questions, and given 4 possible answers for each, only one of which is the appropriate response. Correctly answered questions earn ever increasing cash rewards. One incorrect answer, however, brings an immediate end to the game. Three "lifelines" provide advice when stumped: '50/50' eliminates 2 of the 4 possible answers (usually the 2 that are obviously wrong), 'Ask the Audience' provides the answers given by a randomly polled audience, and 'Phone a Friend' initiates a dialog with one of Regis' friends who offers his best guess. None of the above guidance options is foolproof, and sometimes they are more of a hindrance than a help.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire offers a multiple player option, but it truly lasts for one round only. For this "Fastest Finger" round, an ordered list is sought. The first player to ‘buzz in’ when the correct order is flashed on the screen wins the round. He or she then moves on to the "Hot Seat" which is the same as the one player version of the game.

As in the television show, contestants are provided with two 'safe havens' in their quest for the big dollars. Once they reach $1,000 and again at $32,000 they get to keep these amounts, regardless of future success in the game. Additionally, players who have used up all their Lifelines can choose to stop and "Walk Away" with the money value of the level they've most recently completed by hitting the "w" key. A winners screen keeps track of current and all-time highest winnings.

Educational Value

As with other trivia-game programs, Who Wants to be a Millionaire is knowledge-based. There is no formal teaching of information, so learning takes place only when the user makes note of correct answers and incorporates this information into his or her memory. The program also provides reinforcement of previously learned facts, with questions taken from such categories as history, social studies, geography, government, grammar, and literature as well as the less academic, sports and entertainment categories.

Kid Appeal

Testing one's knowledge of trivia is an entertaining pursuit, and this particular format, which brings the user ever closer to the elusive 'grand prize', can become addicting. "I kept getting all the way to $250,000 and then losing it all." was one young tester's comment. "That made me just want to play more, because I knew I could win it all if I could only get the right questions!"

The program's question mix is varied, making it fun for different-aged family members to play together. As one mom reviewer said, "I knew the answers to entertainment questions targeted at Baby Boomers, but some of the history questions were easier for my 12 year-old who had just learned the information in school. Together, we made a great team!"

The graphics content in this program is minimal, making it a good take-along program for laptop users.

Ease of Use / Install

This program installs without difficulty. Program navigation is simple, and game rules are adequately explained by Regis himself.

Best for... / Bottom-Line

Who Wants to be a Millionaire will appeal to kids who enjoy answering trivia questions and have experienced the fun of the popular television quiz show. Younger kids would do better with a program geared to their specific age-level (see Brain Quest).

See the SuperKids' Buyers Guide for current market prices of this PC-only title.

PC: Windows 95 or later, Pentium class 133 MHz or faster cpu, 160 MB hard drive space, 32 MB RAM (64 MB RAM recommended), DirectX-compatible video card with 640x480 screen size and 16-bit color display, Quad-speed or faster CD-ROM, 16-bit DirectX-compatible sound card.

Reviewed on:

Pentium266 with 64MB and 12XCD

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