Stumped Review

Developer: FortyDigital
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.2.1
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 5

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Trivia wise, Stumped keeps it quite predictable. Questions are varied, covering plenty of different subjects from questions about David Bowie to sports, arts and mathematics. It's a great mix for those keen to use their general knowledge skills, and also ensures that most players will still have a challenge on their hands.

In each case, players are given 20 seconds to answer, with the length of time it takes affecting how many points they gain. The most points across three rounds wins the game. It's simple enough, but provides a perfect opportunity for variety in the form of the power-ups and downs. Players can mess up the competition's viewpoint by using one of the randomly assigned bonuses. For instance, it's possible to blackout the screen for a number of seconds, or turn the question upside down. Perhaps most frustrating of all, it's possible to take away a lot of the question making it very hard to read correctly.

It's a fun way of doing things, particularly when playing locally with friends. Stumped is clearly geared towards party play, so it's a fun twist on a familiar format. There's online multiplayer, too, although that requires some organizing amongst Game Center friends or a hefty dose of luck.

Issues also arise because Stumped isn't as fast-paced as it would like players to think it is, with a brief pause in between various sections of the game, taking the edge off slightly, especially for fast readers.

That aside, and Stumped is a fun trivia game with some genuinely challenging questions. The Single Player mode, reliant on a form of levelling up structure, proves quite appealing and is ably backed up by some highly entertaining party play. I just wish there was an easier way to be paired up with random players, as it would extend the multiplayer capabilities much further.