I mentioned this 7 months ago, a few weeks before it became available. Yesterday, I bit the bullet on the Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? 3DS game since it appears to be disappearing off of shelves, and not due to demand. It's...different.
There is no music from the show. SFX from the show is extremely limited. No voice of Jeff Foxworthy. A monotonous tune plays in the background for the entire game. The game is like the show you know and love (?), except there is no $25,000 safe plateau. The virtual cash is always at risk. This game was clearly rushed to capitalize on 5th Grader's return, even though the return was merely a whimper in the ratings.
Here's the different part. You can spend your winnings to improve the education of your 5th grade helpers. The students start with a D or D- average in all their classes, so they are not much help with the peek/save/copy for starters. As you reinvest your winnings in their virtual school by spending money on the various subjects and by investing in school events like science fairs, debates, and other academic events, your students get smarter and are more likely to help you out.
For some reason, this game is still $30 at Best Buy. (Thankfully, I paid significantly less than that.) If I did it again, I don't know if I'd pay a tenth of that $30 price tag for this game. The "investing in your students" piece is unique. The questions are all over the place, in terms of difficulty. Everything else is quite underwhelming.
