Pictureka iPhone Review

Pictureka is the latest Hasbro board game to hit the iDevices. This is based on the popular object-finding game, but the iPhone and iPad editions also offer a fun single-player mode. The goal is to find a specific number of designated objects as quickly as possible. At first, Pictureka offers a small challenge. Just find three letters or two things with hair. But soon, you are hammered with a stream of tasks and not much time to locate everything.

There are plenty of hidden object games in the App Store for both the iPhone and iPad. Pictureka stands out for its multiple play modes and art direction. I really dig Pictureka's eccentric style. This isn't exactly a colorful game, but in a way, its limited color scheme actually helps you zero in on objects. Both versions of Pictureka contain multiplayer as well as a single-player adventure mode, although the iPad offers same-screen multiplayer while the iPhone edition uses pass-and-play.

Considering Pictureka's art style and wacky sound effects, it seems like EA had kids in mind. But some of the challenges are too obtuse. I was asked to find three things with spots or stains. That's not much to go on, and because I couldn't find anything that immediately matched the category like a soiled shirt or a spotted dog, I just ended up just tapping everywhere on the screen until I stumbled upon the correct targets. That's not exactly the definition of fun. To be fair, this is not a complaint unique to Pictureka. Little Things, my favorite object-finder for the iPad, originally suffered from unintentionally misleading descriptions until a helpful update cleared up the text.

The iPad continues to prove itself to be an excellent destination for board games, although the price difference between the iPhone and iPad versions is discouraging. Pictureka would be an ideal universal app because it's just flat art. That's easy to scale. Come on, EA. If Epic can make the powerful Infinity Blade a universal app, then there's no easily explainable reason not to do the same with something basic like Pictureka.

Closing Comments
Pictureka is a good iDevice recreation of the popular Hasbro board game, but it�s not perfect. Some of the object definitions are just not helpful and that leads to some very disappointing failures. It�s one thing if I cannot find five letters. That�s on me. But the obtuse descriptions frustrate. It�s also too bad Pictureka isn�t universal. However, the excellent art direction and addition of a single-player mode help balance things out.

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