$100,000 Pyramid for PC
Chances are you used to play along when you watched the $100,000 Pyramid on television. Now you can play this game on your computer. The original game was the $10,000 Pyramid. The 1990s brought the new $100,000 game and the show received nine Emmys during it’s time on television. The popularity of the television show led to Sierra Online’s hope to catch the fever once generated by the television show to the online version.
This multiplayer game is a concept that borrows from the television game. The game offers a choice of one, two, or four players who are paired with a celebrity for playing. The beginning of the game begins with the typical part of the game. Both teams choose from six categories with seven answers. Since the game has over 700 categories you will not repeat a category anytime soon. The clock is counting down and one of the partners gives the other clues using words that will hopefully elicit the correct answer from their partner.
The two partners with the most points when this round is over are then on their way to the winner’s circle. There six more answers are needed. The correct answer six times can have a hefty payout. The version of the game for PC is started almost the same. The camera shines to a stage that is dark and the screen lights up with graphics. The music starts; the announcer gives his speech and the audience cheers. The opening is as near to the real thing as possible.
When the game gets ready to start, you can choose one of four players which is a head that is in the corner at the top of the screen. The answers and clues are displayed on the monitor. The audio includes crowd noises and the music is the Pyramid music. The announcer is a little off on some of the remarks, such as telling you that you will do better next time after having an almost perfect round in the game.
The single player and two player game the celebrity you are partnered with gives you clues and the clues are take it or leave it - there is no way of changing them. Your answers are typed in using a keyboard and the clock is ticking.
The four player game does not have partners and the typing is gone. One team member faces the screen. The clues are given to the other team member who is faced away from the screen. The two work their way through six categories and the team with the most answers goes to the pyramid.
The seven words that you have to choose from are all related to the topic but they may be something entirely different than what you think. As the clues are given, you start to type what you think the answer may be. The computer usually finishes typing the word if you get close or sometimes even if it is only one letter.
If the minimum points are earned, off you go to the Winner’s Circle and this is the big money seat. This starts at $5,000 and increases to $100,000. With 90 seconds to guess six categories, the words in this game are somewhat harder than the regular game.
The computer graphics used in this game are somewhat less than what you would think. The sound in the game is good and the show has all the buzzers just as the television show had. There is however, no cuckoo sound when a wrong clue is given. Some of the complaints that were voiced over the game were the categories you miss were not shown for you to know what you missed.
The Winner’s Circle is one of the areas that not knowing the answer you missed is really quite frustrating. The clues are given and you try for several seconds to guess the right category. If you try everything you can think of but do not guess the correct category, the game just ends and you have no idea of the one you missed. This is one of those times that you really wish they would have followed the television game a little closer so you could know what you missed.
Maybe due to the nature of this game there are no cheats available.