PhoneBoy Reviews: You Don't Know Jack, the netshow

You Don't Know Jack is a trivia game. But it's more than a trivia game -- it's fun! The presentation is all professionally-done, smart-ass quiz show style complete with a smart-ass host. The questions are even pretty cool -- but it's not just raw knowledge. The questions themselves are multiple choice, but they are asked in an entertaining way. For example, one question was "If you hosting a human barbeque, how many ribs could you serve?" Or they may ask an easy question and make you "think" about the answer. One such example was "How many rings does a three-ring binder have?" With that one, the answer is obvious, but the answer in the game was "the square root of nine." There is also the occasional "gibberish question" where you have to take a gibberish phrase and figure out what "real" phrase or sentence it sounds like. And at the end -- the Jack Attack where words come up on the screen and you have to buzz in when a match is showing.

You Don't Know Jack is available on CD-Rom, yes. There are even several varieties of the game: the original, XL, Volume 2, Sports, and Movies. The net version, which comes in "regular" and "sports" editions, requires the download of special client software, which takes about 20 minutes to download at 28.8k. They also have a few distinct differences from the CD-Rom games: The games are shorter (15 questions versus the full-length 21 questions), the "gibberish" questions occur at the same question each game, there are none of the "unusual" question types (e.g. "Fiber Optic Field Trip," "Celebrity Collect Call"), there are commercials every three or four questions, and you can win real prizes for playing the game.

As much as I enjoyed playing it when I originally wrote this review (and would still recommend it to people), I don't play it that much anymore, either the netshow or the CD-Rom. What turned me off most with the netshow was the "shortening" of the game and the increase in the number of commercials. I think the other reason I got tired of playing it was that I finally went out and bought XXL (XL + Volume 2). But I just got tired of playing it, though when I do play it, it is quite fun. The net show is a good way to get your feet wet with Jack. After you like it, go buy it on CD-Rom. ;-)

You've gotta at least try this, even if you're not into trivia games!


Last Update: 8 July 1997
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