Pictionary
Reviewed by Cynthia A. Sorrels
Published by Hasbro Interactive

Age Group: Adults Type: Board/Card Games Price: $29.99 US

Description:

Remember Pictionary? That game that had us all madly scribbling pictures and trying to guess what they were is back, this time in digital format. And you can throw away your scratch pad and pencil, as well, because the computer draws all the artwork you'll need. All you have to do is buzz in and type the word for what it is. Sounds simple? Well, yes and no! There are several varieties of the game to play through in each session. After choosing a long or short game, you'll play through Computer Draw, Rapid Reveal, QuickLink and Picker Take.

Features:

• Six new ways to play.
• Play alone, in teams, or over the Internet.
• Hundreds of picture guessing rounds.
• Full color picture reveals.

Technical Aspects:

Installation was a breeze and we found no problems in running Pictionary. However, in attempting to log on to the Zone for Internet play, we were met with the following message:

" We're sorry. For technical reasons the Zone doesn't yet support Netscape Navigator 3.0 and higher browsers. We're working to add this support, and we apologize for the inconvenience. In the meantime, we invite you to download Microsoft Internet Explorer for free."

So where's Janet Reno when you need her??

It's a polite way of saying it'll be a cold day in Hades before Microsoft misses an opportunity to force people to use MSIE, isn't it? Interesting to note, there's no mention of this need for MSIE on the box, which would seem to be misleading for consumers.

Additionally, I understand from a colleague that if two people have Net connections, they can give each other their IP address and play without the Zone, so at least there IS a way to get around it.

Report and Conclusions:

Pictionary disappoints in that there's no option to draw your own pictures, and overall, it seems to be an attempt to follow the wildly popular (and successful) You Don't Know Jack format - but somehow it doesn't quite make it. People who love playing Pictionary are likely to enjoy playing this version of it, but if you never really cared for the game in the first place, this one most likely won't make a believer of you.

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