Intended audience unclear in confusing trivia game

Without the luxury of a car, fake ID or name on a fraternity list, freshmen seem to get the raw end of the deal in terms of a college social life. Because of this, they are often forced to resort to creative endeavors to fill up those dull weekend nights.

The game "Who Rules?" proposes a solution to this dilemma, promising to turn the typical television into an exciting game show. Although the game markets itself to be "fun and easy to play" as well as "outrageously entertaining," four testers and I found this is not a game to play under any circumstance, even if it means sitting alone on a Saturday night eating cheese puffs.

Created by Cannery Games, "Who Rules?" does fulfill its promise as an interactive and easy to play DVD. The remote acts as the controller, allowing the players to spin, choose teams and check score. Even so, the simplicity of the game gives way to lagged sequences, annoying voice-overs and arbitrary questions.

The game host is voiced by Patrick Warburton, best known from his role as David Puddy, Elaine's boyfriend on "Seinfeld." Perhaps the reason his relationship in the show inevitably failed is due to his real-life incessantly annoying voice and providing such wonderful lines like, "Run for your life! No, just spin."

"This is just a cheesy version of 'Scene It,'" said Amina Isakovic, a freshman international relations major. "It tries to incorporate different types of trivia and is stuff nobody knows anything of. It's a pointless guessing game."

The categories of game questions include "Think Tank," "Site Seer," "Political Asylum" and "Dirty Laundry." The worst category is "Burn-a-Turn," in which the face of a devil pops out with flames and essentially "burns a turn." Along with difficult and fairly uninteresting questions, each prize awards the players with items equally arbitrary, such as a yo-yo, a soccer ball or a frying pan.

"The game was designed to be family oriented," said Matt Kuzio, a marketing representative for Cannery Games. "Younger kids aren't going to get the questions, but general knowledge should be from 14 and on."

With questions such as, "How many workers died from yellow fever during France's failed attempt to build the Panama Canal?" and grand prizes including a mountain goat wearing tennis shoes and wings, the specific targeted age group is confusing. Although the topics are extremely challenging, the game fails to appeal to the skills and even aesthetics of a typical college student.

"The colors are very elementary and cheesy-looking," said Sabrina Cunningham, an undeclared freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. "It reminds me of children's Monopoly."

The only original and somewhat entertaining aspect about the game is "Tailg8ter," in which each question is a license plate belonging to a famous person in history. For example, "PTYDFL" would be short for "pity da fool," attributing itself with Mr. T.

"It's cool, because when I get something right, I feel smart," said Alexis Gomez-Garcia, a freshman pre-med biology major.

If a family-fun game is what you seek to fill up those mellow Saturday nights, you would be better off with "Cranium" or "Jeopardy!", where the stakes are high, momentum is never cut short and questions either have relevance or interest. To sum up "Who Rules?", take the words of Erica Ruggeri, a freshman broadcast journalism major: "This is stupid, and I would never play this."

"Who Rules?: The Game"

Manufacturer: Cannery Games

Age: 13-plus

Price: $24.99 from compusa.com