Review: ESPN Cameraman vs. Photo Hunter

ESPN Cameraman v1.0.3 | Published by EpicTilt | Via App Store | Free | Released: 11-08-08 Photo Hunter v1.1 | Published by Eric Chen | Via App Store | $0.99 | Released: 11-07-08

Overview

What you've got here are two apps that are great fun for any age, at any time. They are essentially the digital age takeoff of the old "What's Wrong in This Picture?" from the kids magazine Highlights. These magazines always were the most worn, dog-eared periodicals in the doctor's office. Both of these apps will see their share of wear and tear as well.

Functionality

Both apps essentially do the same thing. You're presented with two nearly-identical pictures, and you're given a time limit to identify the differences in the two pictures. These may be as obvious as someone having no ear to as subtle as the change of color on a wristband. Both apps challenge you to find five differences between the two pictures. You tap on the part of the picture that's different, and a highlighted circle appears around your selection if you got it right. Then you're off to find the rest of the differences. Both apps allow you to "cheat" by using a certain number of chances. Cheats will also be used up if you make a mistake by tapping where there's not a difference in the two images.

Comparison

First of all, Photo Hunter has a ton more categories to pick from, as seen from the image below:

Also, Photo Hunter displays the images in portrait mode (vertically) while ESPN Cameraman displays the images side by side in landscape mode. It feels like you have more room to maneuver in ESPN.

While PH may have more categories, for the sports nut, you'll love the added features of ESPN. The ESPN theme song plays throughout the game, and each tap brings you nice sports sound effects. However, the theme song does get old after a while. In addition, on ESPN, you can tap the "i" at the bottom right and get more information about the picture that's being shown.

Both games allow you to pause your existing game, exit the app and come right back where you left off - a very nice feature. PH gives you a "User Stat Feature," which allows you to track multiple users and compare scores, age, etc. You can even add your profile image here and upload your stats and compare them to others in your country, gender, and age range.

ESPN lets you send your score to a friend via email and upload your score to the game server. It keeps track of worldwide scores and allows you to sync the scores to see who is currently in the lead.

Review

I was really pleased with both apps. They are great to play while you're waiting on something or someone. My kids found it very easy to begin playing immediately, and both turn to one of these while we're in the car. My son always plays ESPN Cameraman, and my daughter inevitably turns to Photo Hunter. One nice feature for either app to consider adding is the ability to create your own photos. It would be a really fun feature to edit your photos and upload them into the app to play with. I prefer the landscape orientation of ESPN. Photo Hunter, though it has an excellent options screen and back end, seems to be a little behind ESPN on aesthetics in how it displays the pictures. But that's probably nitpicking. Once that timer starts in either game, you feel the immediate tension and rush of needing to find the differences as fast as you can. Both apps are so intuitive and easy to use that I highly recommend them.

Summary

It comes down to whether you're a sports fan or not, I suppose. ESPN Cameraman is free and gives you sports information about the pictures in the app. Photo Hunter has more categories, and it's cheap. It's well worth the dollar investment. They stack up nicely against each other, and each does a great job in its own way.

ESPN Cameraman

Usability: 4 / 5 Value: 5 / 5 Utility: 4 / 5 Aesthetics: 5 / 5

Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5

Photo Hunter

Usability: 4 / 5 Value: 4 / 5 Utility: 4 / 5 Aesthetics: 4 / 5

Overall Rating: 4 / 5

Related articles