![Cool 8-)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
It's really quite good IMHO, and much faster than DVD versions that I've played before.
Of course, it's not a patch on apterous, but will be great for getting a Countdown fix when not able to get online or when apterous is down (not that that happens as often nowadays as when I preordered it).
I'll let you all know if it's got my youngest, Henry, interested in Countdown later on. It's his birthday tomorrow, so will be getting other games, so probably won't try it for a while yet.
Positive aspects when compared to apterous:
you can take the game wherever you go, and start it up immediately
slightly more user friendly with the touchscreen, rather than keyboard keys and mouse
can play with friends and family without needing 2 computers
one-off cost (although as I chose lifetime membership of apterous when Charlie first created it, so is apterous for me!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
at the end of the round, you can see all the possible words from 2 letters up
Negative:
less widely sociable, although there are multiplayer options
weird numbers selection (one at a time - large or small - similar to letters selection) which makes the numbers round rather different to the TV show, as you can see how 'good' the numbers are as you choose the rest (how difficult would it have been to program to ask for 1 large, etc?)
have to actually input the numbers method within the 30 seconds, not just declare
can't input more than one word to choose to declare, have to delete previous word if you think of a better one
no strange variants, although you can choose to do numbers, letters or conundrum attacks, or unlimited time
All in all, though, pretty damn good for a handheld game IMHO, as Charlie has set an incredibly high bar with the wonderful apterous. I'll always prefer apterous, but the DS game is a useful alternative.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)