Inside Social Games

Who Has the Biggest Brain is a quiz show game developed by social game company Playfish. For a Facebook application, the game is remarkably well-polished. I had to upgrade my version of Flash to allow for the game to play, and I’m glad I did.

Essentially, WHBB is an IQ test jazzed up and made to fit in the Facebook world. An adorable game show host tells you the rules before you go through a series of four types of mental tests. They’re tough and they change enough so that you can’t simply memorize the answers.

Despite their difficulty (I started cursing when I screwed up some simple math problems) the tests are rendered in pastels and aren’t very threatening, even as the clock runs down. The visual games involve cartoons of sushi and the numbers games often depict floating meteors.

After you finish the tests, you’re given your “brain size” and your level. Shortly thereafter, the host takes a commercial break to let you look at the various websites that sponsor the game. It’s a very clever and subtle way to get advertisements into the game. Again, it’s challenging and addictive, well-animated and fun, and something that lends itself to competitive playing. Both casual gamers and experienced players will find it worth checking out.

WHBB also spreads through invites. The friendly and well-polished icons depict both your Facebook photo and score and that of your nearest competitors. You can invite more friends to see how they rank. You can also see how you rank in the world on a weekly and monthly level. You can discuss the game in the forums, you can write a review for the game, you can check your brain profile, and you can even change the game to be in a different language (an overlooked feature for applications).

In short, this game delivers a fun IQ test that becomes easier through practice, but is one of the few games you really want to beat your friends in. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to increasing my numbers skills.

Gameplay: 8/10

Development: 9/10

Difficulty: 10/10