Time to put your money where your mouth is! Do you remember all those discussions you had with your parents or teachers at school; and which you couldn’t win because Wikipedia wasn’t invented yet (yes, I’m that old, thanks)? Well, you can get the ultimate revenge with ‘Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader’! * Insert a catchy theme song here *.
It’s based on an actual TV show – but they don’t air it in the Netherlands. So for those who aren’t from America, let’s give you a summary.
Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? is an American quiz game show. It originally aired on Fox where it was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy. It is produced by Mark Burnett. The show premiered as a three-day special which began on February 27, 2007, with the first two shows each a half-hour in length. Regular one-hour episodes began airing Thursdays from March 1 through May 10, and the first season continued with new episodes beginning May 31. Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? was picked up for the 2007–08 season, which began on September 6, 2007, and aired in the same timeslot. Following the end of the original run of the primetime version on September 18, 2009, a first-run syndicated version of the show ran from September 2009 to May 2011, with Foxworthy returning as host. On May 26, 2015, the program returned to Fox for a new, 4th season, with Foxworthy, again, returning as host. On February 14, 2019, it was announced that the program would be revived on Nickelodeon with new host John Cena, airing from June 10 to November 3, 2019.
Question Time!
In each game, the contestant (an adult) is asked a series of 11 questions, spanning ten subjects (such as Animal Science, Spelling, or Math) taken from textbooks for first through fifth-grade students. Each question is associated with a grade level; there are two questions per grade, from first to fifth. The player can answer the questions (either true/false, a three-answered multiple-choice question, or a short-answered question) in any order; contestants lock in their answers by pressing the button on the podium, and each correct answer raises their cumulative amount of winnings to the next level.
And it’s pretty hard – at least if you aren’t native to the US and leave the US-based questions in the package. Sure, I have some basic knowledge about which presidents are on the bills – but I don’t know every little fact about elections and the political system in America. I’m also pretty sure we don’t teach our fifth graders in the Netherlands these things.
So, what do you get, next to tricky questions and answering multiple choice questions like you’re back in school? Well, more than 6800 questions on topics like animal sciences, vocabulary, math, and more. They are delivered by a diverse, fully voiced, and animated cast of characters, which is pretty well done for a tv adaptation game. Beat each challenge alone or together with family and friends in exciting couch co-op multiplayer gameplay to prove that you are, in fact, smarter than a 5th grader. And while doing so, unlock some neat aesthetics for your kids to play digital dress-up while learning facts about stuff you never knew you needed (good for table facts).
Conclusion
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? is a charmingly funny quiz game based on the (in America) popular TV franchise. Multiple-choice questions, true-or-false challenges, and mini-games will test your proficiency in 24 different subjects. Of course, faced with a tricky question, you can always rely on your classmates for help. Con – I did not feature John Cena (or maybe I didn’t see … him?). Just be sure to opt out of the American-focused questions if you’re playing this outside the States. Otherwise, you’ll fail like a second grader on their first day at school.
