In this new eShop title for the Wii U, Retroid Interactive brings all the fun of Pictionary to the Wii U without all the clutter and mess.
I want to thank Retroid Interactive for supplying us with a review code for this game. I wish them all the best in the success of this game.
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Written Review
Nintendo systems are known for their party games from high-ranking series like Mario Party and Super Smash Bros to mountains of shovel-ware. This was very apparent with the Wii, and one would assume that Wii U would follow this trend — but it hasn’t. The gamepad really lends itself to these type of games but for whatever reason only a handful ever really came out. On the plus side this meant there was an open market for the types of party games you might want to play and one that seems perfect for the gamepad is Pictionary. The classic game of drawing random images and having other people guess these images for points was a fun but often wasteful game with the amount of paper required.
This is where PictoParty comes in. Developed by indie studio, Retroid Interactive, PictoParty brings Pictionary to the Wii U in a neat little package.
GAMEPLAY
The game is Pictionary and can be performed in one of two ways: individual play or team play. Both are played the same way but rather with the difference being played individually or with a group For the few of you who don’t know what Pictionary is, it is a game where you draw an object randomly assigned to you and the others have to guess what it is. Whoever guesses it right gets a point, as does the artist, so the winner is decided both by how many correct guesses you make and how good of a drawer you are.
The game asks every player to make an account, distinguished by a name and funny picture you can take with the Wii U’s gamepad. You then put to play by picking what rules you want, for example; whether you allow erasers or not and how long each round takes. Finally you pick what dictionaries you actually want to include. You can jump straight into having all of them or just pick the topics you and your friends are most familiar with. The game comes with nine different dictionaries with standard themes like food and animals but if these do not interest you then do not worry for in PictoParty you can make your own dictionaries as well.
This game requires trust as the artist is the one who has the gamepad and is in charge of deciding who guessed correctly and distributing the points. This means that just like in real Pictionary you can end up in situations where people argue who was quickest to say a particular point. This could have been rectified with the use of additional controllers like Wii remotes and nun-chucks as buzzers. However this would only allow up to 9-player games where as PictoParty allows for at least 12.
The gameplay is very basic but that’s not necessarily bad. You can chose to use various different colour pencils and the game keeps a track of your time and any penalties so you don’t have to. It makes use of the fact that it is a video game however it does not go beyond the most basic of gameplay choices.
PRESENTATION
Picto Party is presented in a very clean and simple style. Everything is in light pastel colours and it is very clear what is intractable and what is not. The music is very minimalistic which suits the sort of game it is. It does not distract from the focus of the game but it stops any possible awkward silences that might come from everyone trying to think. The presentations suits the game well even if there is not much there.
VERDICT
If you want a virtual version of Pictionary then grab PictoParty. It makes use of the gamepad in obvious way in order to provide the Pictionary experience on a console gaming platform. However, there is not really anything here that makes it stand out from just playing regular old Pictionary. The only difference between the two is that you get to save on paper this way, which is a good thing and may save you money in the long run.
…Assuming you play Pictionary on a regular basis.
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