Papa's Quiz Review (Switch): Pop Quiz, Hotshot

Papa’s Quiz, or should I say Daddy’s based on my excellent dance skills, is a great family-friendly quiz game. Within a few minutes of downloading it, courtesy of a review code (thanks, friends), my eldest and I took this party game out for a test run.

Undoubtedly, this is one of the best quiz games we’ve played. Granted, the genre isn’t at the top of most people’s lists, and you are heavily reliant on other players, but when you can rope in up to eight of them, though not a requirement, Papa’s Quiz will be your entertainment for the night.

As is often the case with quiz games, the types of questions alienate a lot of people. Granted, it’s not about niches and how many cartoon characters you can name who share the same birthday as Ronald McDonald, but there should be something for everyone.

Papa’s Quiz Review

Papa’s Quiz mixes up the target audience to cater to both adults and kids, and surprisingly, there’s a lot of overlap, meaning the spotlight isn’t on one demographic. Choosing categories is a turn-based affair, so the family rolled their eyes when I picked 90s related culture or mythology, the wife would choose food questions (notably desserts), and the kids picked categories like My Little Pony.

In the questions that followed for the latter, I didn’t get a single one right. I’m definitely not a Brony.

By default, Papa’s Quiz runs through five rounds. Unlike other party games, the theme is more or less the same throughout, without any gameplay gimmicks other than changing up the round with a points steal, or the fastest to buzz in gets the points. Variety is crucial in a quiz game, and with 2500 questions, there will be a fair amount of replay value here.

Something that separates this from all the other games is the level of customisation. You can opt to play with a controller on the Switch or from a mobile/tablet device from the outset. You don’t even need to be in the same room as there are two options to choose from on your device. Enhanced lets you play the game anywhere in the world with an internet connection, where only one person needs the base game for the Switch. The second option is for those in the same room.

Once everyone logs in, they’re able to choose this potato-like monster that’s super stylish, considering the simplicity. Choose their attire, expressions and two identifiable names that the announcer reads out. For example, on our first play, my daughter was called Strange Nut with poo on her head; for me, it was Papa Rocket with a gentleman’s moustache. You’ll see your avatar throughout the game as the quiz takes place on a dance floor. Whoever has the best round gets to choose a victory dance. The killjoys can skip it if they like, but it all adds to the light-hearted competitiveness.

Question:

Now we come to the elephant in the room: the announcer. Nothing personal, but the voiceover is wrong for the game. They have about as much enthusiasm as the automated voice that reads out the instructions (you don’t need them, just tap, tap, tap), and in many respects, would have preferred Monty the robot instead. They lack energy, sincerity and while it’s difficult to fuse a considerable amount of audio so seamlessly, they could have used someone with a bit more interest. Best. Dance. Ever. Said with such indifference, I was tempted to mute it on occasions. Granted, it did grow on me after more games, but it was definitely the weak point.

Everything else in Papa’s Quiz, a game from Old Apes, is great, and it delivers in so many ways. 2500 is a lot of questions to learn, but when you consider that there are over 185 categories to choose from, this is a game you’ll be playing for a good deal of time before memorising all the answers. Even then, it’s open for error as I chose the hotdog as England’s national dish. Good one.

Papa’s Quiz plays out exactly as hoped, if not better. It encouraged the whole family to play, and besides entertaining us with the character designs and prompting actual dancing from each of us during the dance segments, we learned a lot from the material. And, as an advocate for education, it’s so much better when you’re having fun. Again, the only flaw was the voiceover.