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TV Show King is one of the more recent games to come from prolific mobile game developers, Gameloft. Joining the likes of Real Football 2009, Asphalt 4, Midnight Pool & Bowling, TV Show King is their take on a TV trivia show.

Packed with more then 3,000 questions varying from Sports and Science to Geography and Mathematics, TV Show King has plenty to keep you busy and more importantly entertained for many hours. This is only added to with customisable in-game characters, in-game animations and even an online multiplayer mode.

In single player mode you are up against 3 fellow contestants, where you are required to answer a series of multiple choice questions, in a bid to win cash for answering the question correctly. In-between rounds you are offered the choice to brave the prize wheel that consists of a number of different cash bonuses along with a number of bogey items that if landed on, could potentially ruin your chances of winning.

The game makes use of simple touch controls where you just tap one of the multiple choice answers before the time limit of 10 seconds runs out for each question. One small gripe I have with the actual answering of questions is the fact that you can see what answers your other opponents have opted for. So if you are unsure of a question and select an answer, only to see the others go for something else, it it easy for you to change to make sure you get a few points. I think this would be much better if either the other contestants answers were hidden to avoid what seems to be an unfair advantage or you weren’t allowed to change your answer after selecting one. A slight conciliation here is that whoever selects the correct answer first, is the player who takes the most amount of cash for that question. So if you happen to be influenced and change your mind in the last minute then you wont be rewarded with as much money.

Once all the rounds of questions are complete the top two contestants qualify for a final head-to-head duel. This follows a similar concept to the previous rounds apart from this time it’s a race to 5 and thankfully if both answer the question the same, whoever answered first is the one that takes the point.

The questions you are faced with vary in difficulty and despite having played the game numerous times I have come across only a few occasions where I have been faced with a question I have seen in previous games. Of course if your a power player who plays all day, your bound to come across the same questions, but hey.

I found the gameplay both fun and engaging. Trying to answer the questions before your opponents in order to ensure you receive the maximum amount of money possible for your troubles also adds to the fun, especially in the final duel. Panic is guaranteed when you are faced with a question you don’t know the answer to.

There would be a few small things I would perhaps change if I had my way. I’m not sold on the idea of seeing your opponents answers for example. It would also perhaps be cool to have no idea on how you are getting on during a round until all 7 questions have been answered. Then an end of round summary showing each competitors success would perhaps add a little bit to the excitement and suspense.

Another single player mode called Quiz Attack is included in the game where you attempt to string together as many correct answers as possible without answering incorrectly. Once you do give the wrong answer the game comes to an end.

Overall I found TV Show King to be great fun and perhaps more so then I was originally expecting. There is plenty about this game to keep you entertained for long periods of time and with the exception of my small gripes, I think it’s a great take on a quiz game for the iPhone and highly recommend for anyone looking to give their brain a bit of a challenge.

Score: 4 out of 5