Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? is a TV quiz game show where adults try and answer questions that an elementary school kid might learn.  But since it’s been a long time since we were in grade school, and may not remember all those facts, that may be harder than it seems!  Luckily contestants on this show can get limited help from a panel of real life elementary school kids!  And now you can play a video game based on this show for current game consoles (reviewed on Switch here). But wow, is this TV show even still on?  I reviewed a 3DS version of this game show WAY back in 2015! 

Anyway, here there are two modes of play.  One to four players can go at the main game, and there’s also a mode for single players, too.  You are tasked with answering quiz questions from a first grade level all the way up to a fifth grade level.  You must answer two questions for each grade and can pick a category like math, science, reading, vocabulary, social studies, and more.  If you can’t remember a question, you can call upon a cheat once.  You can choose to ask one of the fifth grade classmates, ask the whole class, or get a new question.  Some of the students say they specialize in different subjects, but I didn’t really notice much of a difference.

If you get a question wrong just once, you are out of the game.  But if you can get all the way to the end, you can try to answer sixth grade level questions and prove you really are smarter than a fifth grader.  Win or lose, after the game is over your points are tallied and when you get enough, you can unlock new things like avatars and desk designs for your player, or even new classmates.

I was never able to get to the end, though.  Not because I’m not smarter than a fifth grader, but because bad game design flaws kept me from answering questions correctly.  Especially when it comes to using the map for Social Studies questions.  The icon you use to point out locations is so honking huge it made it hard to correctly point out the right answer for the computer to accept.  It wasn’t so bad on the US map, but nigh impossible on the world map.  If only there were a way to zoom in.  And one time the game froze up on me completely!  So I lost interest after all that.  And sorry Jeff Foxworthy fans, he’s not in this game either.

Kid Factor:

Nothing violent or objectionable here.  The game is fully voiced, which is pretty amazing, but good reading and math skills are still helpful.  I guess the game could be considered educational, but I think older elementary school students and up would best enjoy this one.  Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews, Television