The Digest: Today I’m back with another of the Hasbro Family Game Night games, this time it’s Pictureka. This game is a fast paced version of I Spy really. One of my son’s favorite books is I Spy so I’ve got quite a bit of experience at it because I usually have to find the things for him. In Pictureka though, you find things with a little magnifying glass across one or several game boards.

THE FACT SHEET
RELEASE DATE: June 23rd, 2010
PUBLISHER:EA
DEVELOPER:EA Bright Light
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
GENRE: Family, Card & Board

PRODUCT OVERVIEW:

Find it fast, find it first! Collect the most mission cards to win in Pictureka, an exciting game of visual hide and seek. In the full version of Pictureka, you’ll be able to play the original Hasbro board game as well as new remix and custom modes! You’ll also have access to trophies, leaderboards, and achievements.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

• Players 1-4
• HDTV 720p
• In-game Dolby Digital
• Online Multiplayer 2-4
• Content Downloads
• Leaderboards
• Voice

Review:

So we’re back here with another visit to My Potato Head and his living room full of games. There are two main modes of game play Original and Remix, but really there’s not much different between them, just a few minor details.

The game starts with a cannon firing a colored die into the air. Depending on the color you may get a card or a chicken might come along and lay an egg with a regular die in it with a number being shown.

I got a green and a six so a card is drawn telling me what I need to find six of. In this case it’s six ropes or wires.

Then you’re taken to the game board where you’ll use a magnifying glass to find what you’re looking for.

The graphics are goofy and funny, actually it all is, it’s meant to be a fun and goofy game! When you’re searching for something each item on the screen can be animated and make a sound  as you hover over it.

Sometimes you’ll get a car with a picture on it and only a single screen to hunt on.

Honestly that’s about it, there’s not much more to it that that at all.

The graphics are decent really, yes it’s only 720p, but they’re basic.

Here’s a game play video for you:

The other mode is Remix and it’s actually a little harder than Original, it seems faster paced as well.

You’ll run across the same cannon and chicken (Yes, the chicken is back in all his goofy glory).

The main difference here is that you may have to find something that make a sound. Like you might hear a trumpet and have to go find it. Another difference is you may have to find several thing, but do it from memory. After the cannon goes off and the chicken does his thing you might see a few picture cards, but you only get a few seconds to look at them and they disappear. The game board will appear and you’ll have to find them from memory alone. For young kids this might be a little problem as they’ll have to remember the cards.

And here’s another video for you to show you game play:

I like Pictureka a lot really, but it’s really short, a game might last 3 minutes, usually less.

Conclusion:

Pictureka is a great kids game truly, especially if they like I Spy. The Original version is the one you want for young kids, while the Remix is more for older children with better recall will be able to play it. I like Pictureka really, it’s fun and just all-around goofy. Yeah I’m an adult but I enjoy playing it really and so do my kids. If you’ve got kids then get this, and even if you don’t you might enjoy it yourself!

Single Player: 4/5 | Multi-Player: N/A

Special thanks to EA for providing us with a copy of the game for review.