test titbox

civ77 · Post by **civ77** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:30 am

Are your pans safely out of harms way Istenem?

I saw a new BigFizz game on one Itbox last night called StringIt (I think, I was certainly called string something). It's a word game similar to Word(So)up but no diagonal linking allowed, I'd guess there is about twice as many letters in the grid compared to WU and from my limited playing there didn't seem to be any time bonuses available.

I do vaguely remember playing something similar in the past, so it might just be a new front end and some slight tweakage to a game that has been on test before.

The scores needed for prizes seemed reasonable, I managed a couple of wins even with my frequent forgetting of the no diagonal rule. However I didn't get even vaguely close to a clearance so I don't know what the reward for that is. Oh, and it banks any win rather than the WU collect/continue choice.

Istenem · Post by **Istenem** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:47 pm

i don't think my pans are in much danger if it is the game which was linked on here a few weeks ago. if you are going to take Word Up as a model and devise a new game, why make a clone which is so obviously and so fundamentally shitter? it is ugly, clunky and unrewarding.
the beauty of WU is that it can be enjoyed by people of any standard to their own expectations; you can make of the game what you will. each game offers whatever challenge you choose to accept: if you want to get 1000 points aim for that, if you want to get the most words you can go for 39, if you want just one monster word then bully for you, if you want to line up a bad swear then tee-hee, want to hook up the ZZs for a 300 point word? there they are, go for it.

right, the pans are all soiled again now. thanks for that masterful bait Civ.

wordgames need to be more than just "make these letters spell QAT and win a ZILLION points"
for example: bookworm is an okay wordgame (bookworm adventures, with the silly tinsel and show is excellent).
scrabble (the board game not just SWP) is really about numbers and knowing that QI is allowed. spelvin dumbed this down even further with a game where it was impossible to lose. there is no challenge in that.

granted the prize stucture on string it seems more fair but that is not my motivation for playing word games. and i doubt that joe schmo who loses his 50p would choose a ponderous and bleak game over one with élan.

civ77 · Post by **civ77** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:13 pm

So that's when I played it, it was the one that was linked to from here a while back, thank you for stopping the niggling voice in my head that was questioning where and when I had played it before.

I agree that WUs appeal to both joe schmo and johnny wordgame comes more from the game structure than the prize structure. It's one of the few games I've seen people lose consistantly but still be happy to play again with the knowledge that they are buying entertainment rather than chasing a prize (I include myself on this list).

I would have much preferred to see an innovative word game or a ressurection of one that has been confined to history (wordwall for instance) rather than a poor relation of a game that is available on the same screen.

Northern Monkey · Post by **Northern Monkey** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:22 pm

The test box I saw the other day but couldnt play as wouldnt accept credits had changed its offerings again today.

It had IIRC Smarter than a 10 yr old and Connect 4 on the front screen with spot the ball and Tac Tiles (alien thing) and other equally useless shite on the back.

Now getting confused with all these different terminals / sites etc- has this dross line-up appeared on itbox before ?

Spot the Ball is more AWP (without the A) than SWP.

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 3:40 pm

Northern Monkey wrote:The test box I saw the other day but couldnt play as wouldnt accept credits had changed its offerings again today.

It had IIRC Smarter than a 10 yr old and Connect 4 on the front screen with spot the ball and Tac Tiles (alien thing) and other equally useless shite on the back.

Now getting confused with all these different terminals / sites etc- has this dross line-up appeared on itbox before ?

Spot the Ball is more AWP (without the A) than SWP.

To introduce a third vein of excitement a local Box to me (never been a test site before) has introduced Spot The Ball, Tac Tiles and - wait for it - SCRATCH AND MATCH 2 on the back screen, with no new additions on the front at all. It's like they know this stuff is absolute irremediable shite even before release so they know to hide it away on the back screen. STB looked rubbish and Tac Tiles is definitely rubbish; SAM2 has, I think, a slightly less harsh endgame than SAM1 (albeit it's been many moons since I played it), and uses the TXF/ELW question set, with which I've become reasonably familiar, but it's still - ABSOLUTE RUBBISH.

Come on manufacturers! We're not asking for another Jiggy Bank or Big Match pound-coin-fest; just some decent trivia games which offer a challenge but a chance of some reasonable prizes. I guess getting AYSTATYE? on all Boxes might be a start; that is moderately enjoyable and profitable.

Northern Monkey · Post by **Northern Monkey** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:04 pm

Aye Grecian this one had scratch n sniff too

Matt Vinyl · Post by **Matt Vinyl** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:17 pm

Aye Grecian this one had scratch n sniff too

Heh, now that fagash is gone from pubs, there needs to be another pile of something left at the base of the machine...

...I'm of course talking about that 'rub-off foil' stuff from scratchcards...

dmac · Post by **dmac** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:18 pm

Nil Satis · Post by **Nil Satis** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:53 pm

Category : Age 10 Abbreviations

grecian wrote:AYSTATYE?

wires74 · Post by **wires74** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:26 pm

no good at abbreviations what is "AYSTATYE" ?

Matt Vinyl · Post by **Matt Vinyl** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:30 pm

Are You Smarter Than A Ten Year Elf...

wires74 · Post by **wires74** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:35 pm

Cheers for that MATT !

grecian · Post by **grecian** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:03 pm

It looks to me like the backscreen additions of Tac Tiles, Spot The Ball and Scratch and Match 2 are universal on the ItBox - a very poor set of additions indeed, I must say. I noticed that Back 2 Skool has disappeared, which I think is a pity, as it was a good game that I rather enjoyed. I wonder whether one or two of the "top boys" had become rather too good at it, although given that the game could presumably stop you winning much fairly easy, not sure that theory's right. Anyone got any explanations, or can tell me which other two titles have made way for the new dross?

QuizMaster · Post by **QuizMaster** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:13 pm

Hells Bells and Frog Lily Pad Wank have gone

rogerthymes · Post by **rogerthymes** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:41 pm

For about twenty minutes today I thought that Scratch and Sniff was worth something. Quickly dashed off to another pub and realized it was the usual guff. basically - stick two quid in and you may (stress on the 'may') win £3. Chances are you'll 'win' a free game (ie your 50p back) and if you try to play again it'll be total pants. I couldn't even bring myself to have a go on tac-tiles - just looks like ridiculous shite.