Review: The Impossible Quiz!
by Staff Writer
November 24, 2009
Overview
The Impossible Quiz is a brand new test type app for the iPhone. These seem to do really well on the top paid charts, and The Impossible Quiz is no different. The game is made by inXile's Sparkworkz, developers of Line Rider and Fantastic Contraption, and this is their next port of an online game. The Quiz is set up where there are over 100 questions, and you try to make it as far as you can. You have three lives, and each wrong answer costs one life. Around every 10 questions you earn a skip for especially impossible questions, though a few questions don’t allow skipping.
Features
Not too much in the features, it’s just a series of random questions that have different answers depending on the meaning you take from the words. Most of the questions are multiple choice, but a few iPhone specific questions and tasks are thrown in. Stats are kept track of how many times you’ve played, and the furthest you’ve got, and that’s it.
The Good
The Impossible Quiz is oddly addicting. For some reason after you play a couple times through you’ll want to keep going to see more of the bizarre questions. The questions are hilarious and frustrating at the same time which is absolutely amazing. It’s a great experience the first few times through trying to figure out these impossible questions. There’s no doubt you will burst out laughing, and then right after use an expletive. The hand drawn style of the questions adds to the hilarity. The questions and art design seem out of kindergarden, and that adds to the overall style of the game. If you don’t take yourself too seriously you will have fun.
The included soundtrack fits with the theme as well. It’s like a goofy song that is hard to describe, but has a kindergarden doofus feel to it. Also the game saves your progress to pick up on the last question you made it to.
The quiz truly is impossible, not hard or really hard, but actually impossible. There are some questions that are the most extreme head scratchers I’ve ever seen. The couple included stats are nice to find out how much time you’ve wasted. I was going to make a video of the app, but I didn’t want to give away the answers.
One example of a question that sums up the whole game is #14. What can you put in a bucket to make it lighter? Gypsies, torch, a hole, canned laughter. The answer could be a hole, or canned laughter, but it's actually a torch.
The Bad
The main problem with this app is that it’s short lived at best. You play through a couple times, and you get the gist of it. It feels more like a gimmick app than anything else, and the addicting nature will wear off pretty quickly.
The question order is exactly the same every time, so once you figure out the answers, it’s mind-numbingly boring going through the forty questions you’ve answered just to make it to the question you lost on. It would have been much better if the questions were presented in random order, so you can at least try all of the questions.
Each question has multiple meanings depending on how you consider the words. If you look at it in a literal sense, or figurative sense, or what ever way you look at it will give you a different answer. There is no consistency in the meaning of the questions or answers.
