You Don't Know Jack Review

Here's a trivia question for you: What's the main difference between a game show like Jeopardy! and a game show like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Answer: In one, the questions come at you lightning fast, and in the other, the slow pace gets milked for maximum tension. You Don't Know Jack is firmly in the Millionaire camp, since it goes for the maximum entertainment value for each question and answer.

If you like your trivia games to come with a sarcastic, know-it-all host who is constantly cracking wise, You Don't Know Jack is as good as it gets. The announcer in this game makes constant witty asides, and he's the real star of this game, not the questions. As much as we liked listening to him go on, we can imagine losing a lot of the experience if we had to play YDKJ on a noisy bus or in a situation where we couldn't plug in headphones.

The questions are plenty entertaining as well. They range from current hot topics like Rebecca Black and Charlie Sheen, as well as more general questions ranging from Dr. Seuss to Snoop Dogg. And most of the questions are asked in a roundabout way. For example, instead of simply asking you which country colonized Easter Island, it asks you what an Easter Island chocolate bunny would be stuffed with, if it was filled with the native food of its country (Answer: Chilean Sea Bass).

You Don't Know Jack comes with 20 episodes of 10 questions each, and some of the questions are multi-part minigames. A few of these mingames, like the fast-paced Dis or Dat, are very exciting, but you can't skip straight to the action. Instead, you have to patiently play through the longer, more involved questions, watching the same goofy animations play out each time. Needless to say, these animations become less clever over time.

Another complaint we have is that there's no multiplayer mode. We'd love to be able to "buzz in" on different iOS devices, or on the same iPad screen, and compete against other players. Unfortunately, You Don't Know Jack on the iOS is a single-player game only, even if it is fun to watch and play along with a friend sitting next to you.

It may not be the best trivia game on the App Store-- that honor still goes to our reigning champion MovieCat!-- but You Don't Know Jack is a fiercely witty competitor. The writing and voice over work are top-notch, but the slow pace and repetitive animations held us back from giving this one our top score.