SPB Software, the developers responsible for bring Windows Mobile users the likes of SPB Mobile Shell 3 and SPB Pocket Plus, has just introduced a new game, SPB Geo Game.  The premise of this one is to integrate world geography into a game environment.  As a high school teacher, I applaud their efforts to integrate education and fun, two words that aren’t always synonomous with each other.  SPB Software graciously provided a copy to JAMM to review, so Louis “Tekipaq” Lieberman and I decided to put the program to the test.  Grab yourself a glass of iced tea and read on to see how SPB Geo Game fares in it’s attempts to equate world geography with fun.

The gameplay of Geo Game proves to be relatively straight forward and simple.  Two vertical buttons, wrapped in SPB’s new touch friendly UI (if you’re familiar with SPB’s Mobile Shell 3, Weather, etc., you’ve experienced the quality and visual aesthetic) present the user with the option to start the game, answering questions about either countries’ capital cities or flags of the world.

SPB Geo Game

Choosing the Capitals option takes the user into a series of questions, each essentially asking for a country and capital city to be paired.  Four choices are presented under the question, each positioned on large, touch friendly buttons.  Press the wrong answer, and the choice is “grayed” out.  Choose the correct answer, and you are taken to a 3-dimensional globe that illustrates the location of the city / country.  If you are familiar with SPB’s Weather 2 application, you’ve likely seen the globe in action.  In my opinion, it’s nice to have a familiar user interface from program to program, and I commend SPB for trying to achieve this.  Use enough of SPB’s programs, and you’ll have a very consistent UI experience!

Capital Cities

Globe

Playing the Flags portion of Geo Game uses the same format as Capitals, with the obvious exception of providing the user with a sample flag graphic instead of a city name.  For the displayed flag, choose the correct country and you will be taken to the globe once again, illustrating it’s location.

Flags

SPB Software has put together and interesting game in Geo Game, as it does it’s job in educating the user about the world.  With geographical boundaries changing quite a bit since I was in school, the game was a bit of a challenge to me at first, however after a bit of play the challenge quickly starts to fade.  With the flash card nature of the program starting to rear it’s head, the user might find themselves looking for additional features, wanting a bit more to test their intellect.  Hopefully SPB will integrate the ability to have more information about the countries displayed, perhaps as a fun fact.  With the design of Geo Game, it is also very easy to imaging how SPB could integrate various geography “packs”, with each providing a different type of question.  Some interesting possibilities might include questions on population, ethnic food dishes, and unique customs or norms.  Again, I commend SPB Software for trying to marry the idea of education and fun in Geo Game and hope that they do consider taking the program’s functionality a step further in the next release!

You can download the 14 day trial from SPB Software here.

Highlights:

• SPB’s touch friendly UI shines in Geo Game.
• Marrying education and fun isn’t always easy, and SPB is to be commended for this.  Being no stranger to this with Brain Trainer, I can only hope that they continue this trend.
• Reasonable price of $4.95 with the usual trial period to see if the game is your preferred type.

Areas of Concern:

• As with any game, one type will appeal to a specific set of gamers, another to a different set.  SPB Geo Game doesn’t provide a big challenge and IS NOT going to appeal to everyone.  I recommend giving the trial a chance to make sure it suits your interests.

Specifications:

• Platforms:  Windows Mobile 5, 6, 6.1 (touch screen required)
• Version:  1.0
• Price:  $4.95
• Size:  3.7 MB (installs nicely to a secure digital card)

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