007 – Wheel of Fortune
Year: 1987 | Publisher: GameTek | Developer: Sharedata | Genre: Game Show
Live Video | PlayThrough
Wheel of Fortune is a wonderful game and truly an American staple. It first aired in 1975 with Chuck Woolery as a host but after a few years, switched to Pat Sajak. Except for a brief period, Sajak has hosted the Wheel since 1981. How’s that for job security?
The core of the game is Hangman. Blank spaces filled in with guessed letters. But rather than being limited to number of guesses, you’re limited by who can solve the puzzle faster. Fantastic.
The game translates to consoles very well. I would have to say it’s because the mechanics of the game are so simple. The hardest part, I’m guessing, is programming the AI for the difficulty levels. Other than that, writing a quick hangman game is relatively easy. Could I do it? Not right now. But in my youth…. maybe.
It’s the simplicity of the game that makes it work so well. The game starts with the ability to select 1-3 players. Because the entirety of the game is turned based it becomes easy to simply pass the controller for the next turn. If choosing less than 3, you’re given the option to play against the computer. Well that’s fun too! Select your difficulty, name your players, and you’re off to spin the wheel!
After showing you the game board, you take the first spin and start guessing letters. Increase your score by guessing correct letters and avoiding going Bankrupt or Missing a Turn. Again, super simple mechanics that makes the game a joy to watch and play. Rounds 1 and 2 are identical except for who spins first. Round 3 is the lightning round where the value is determined before hand and every just guesses letters. Whomever solves the puzzle keeps their cash. The highest cash at the end of round 3 advances to the final board.
Unlike the TV Show, you get to choose your prize here. It has been a while since I’ve watched Wheel, but if I remember right, you spin or blindly pick a card with a prize on it. After you successfully solve the puzzle, it is revealed which prize you won. Here, you get to select your prize. Though I played this game months ago at this point, I am currently dreaming of a vacation… I guess I always am.
Presented with the board, I select the 5 most common letters selected for Wheel. In fact, in the newest version of the game on TV, they give you those letters anyway and I think you select three more consonants and one more vowel. The new puzzles must be much harder.
The game is fun and quick. Playing through all the way takes less than 10 minutes. Getting a group of people together? Play Wheel Tournament style. The one problem I had with the game was the AI. If you chose hard and weren’t able to solve the puzzle on your first set of spins, chances are you wouldn’t win. I don’t know if I will ever know how it was programmed, but the biggest annoyance was on difficulty level 3, there are two letters on a 4 or 5 word puzzle, and the computer guesses a Z. C’mon. No human would ever do that. At that point, I knew that the computer solved the puzzle and the game loses excitement.
Difficulty level 2 had just the right amount of intensity. I definitely recommend this game and I’m looking forward to playing the derivatives. I wonder if the graphics get any better.