Wheel of Fortune for PS4/XBox One/Switch

Guess how much the 1/2 Car is worth, without going over (you won't):

You know, I kinda like the smooth jazz playing in the background during gameplay...could do without the sting for every correct letter call though...

The game looks nice for the most part- certainly better than any Wheel game to date- but the wheel itself seems a bit off, and certain parts of the presentation seem halfassed and rushed.

Maybe they'll add a patch later.

So after a few games, some oddities:


First off, this game seems to love unnecessary hyphens. I get at least one per game, not joking.


On my very first game (not the one I put on YouTube), I experienced a glitch. I was distracted during one of my turns and got buzzed out. The yellow player spun and also got buzzed out, and then the screen never advanced from the letter-select screen. I had to reset the game.


When I first tried out the family mode, I got a misspelled puzzle. Harsh for the kids.  





Most recently, my "Hard" computer players seem to have gone haywire during the first two Toss-Ups of one game. Typed out in typical recap style...

$1,000 Toss-Up: Song Title

_ E / _ _ O

Blue guesses ME GEO.


_ E / _ O O

Yellow guesses IE ZOO.


M E / _ O O

Because a letter gets added any time someone gets locked out, I barely make it in time with ME TOO. Not only does this break the show's "pre-90s" rule for songs (by Meghan Trainor, released in 2016), but it also shows that this game uses real song titles and lyrics. In the THQ games, the song categories were rare because they mostly used public domain titles and lyrics such as POMP & CIRCUMSTANCE.


And if that wasn't enough...

$2,000 Toss-Up: Occupation

D E S S E _ T
_ _ _ _

Blue guesses DESSERT UNIT. Somewhat understandable; I could see a missolve happening like that on the show.


D E S S E _ T
_ H _ _

Yellow guesses DESSERT SHOE!

The answer was DESSERT CHEF. Again, these computer players were set to Hard.

^I like the WiiU version. I keep hoping for a new version of that game.

So here are my thoughts on this version...

I like that this version isn't as cartoony as the PS3/360 versions by THQ. Kinda more resembles the 2009 PS3 version in a sense (probably just me though), just with added hosts. At the same time, it kinda looks and feels like a cross between the 2009 and THQ versions. Not sure how I can explain that.

Now onto what I don't like and hopefully will be fixed with patches or DLC (besides the generic hosts)...

I've noticed all the prize puzzles award a trip to Italy, even though the puzzles don't relate to the prize at all. Other than that, I've noticed a few audio issues as well, mainly with the prize description and the opening chant being cut before they finish completely.

If I were to rate this version so far, I'd probably give it a 3.5/5 stars.

Another gameplay inaccuracy, though not nearly as bad as the overpriced 1/2 Car: if you flip the Mystery Wedge and find the $10K, you'll still receive the $1,000 per letter in spendable cash.

Also, even though it's allowed on the show now, you can't use the Wild Card after buying a vowel.

A day-one patch was just released. Here are all the differences I've spotted so far:


- The title screen is different. It now matches the game's icon, in which the logo is smaller and surrounded by glittery blue and a gold border with the Wheel in the background using the old number font.

- The buttons for buying a vowel and solving have been swapped. You now press Y/△ to solve and X/□ to buy a vowel. Spin is still A/✖, but it's now at the bottom of the list of options instead of second from the top.

- There are now two additional base avatars to work with, for a total of four - two male and two female. The newly-added male is clean-shaven, so no more mandatory scruff for men.

- There is now a shortcut straight to the contestant avatar customization by pressing Y/△ in the player lobby.

- Two additional set themes have been added: Desert Oasis and Amusement Park.

- Levels now progress much faster. I was on Level 7 before the update, then went up to Level 14 after just one game post-update.

- Some of the transitions are more abrupt, most noticeable with the opening. It now cuts straight to the studio after "Wheel... of...", so the chant no longer sounds in full. The transition from the final maingame scores to the Bonus Round now cuts the outro music abruptly instead of fading it out like before.

- The prize copy videos are now a bit shorter and the $7,320 value is no longer read aloud as it's displayed.

- The "name tags" seen below the avatars next to the letter keyboard are now colored according to the player instead of always blue like the actual name tags.

- There is no longer a buzzer sound on missolves.

- Despite the update, the Bonus Round minimum is still $34,000.


The game is still prone to getting stuck. It happened to me twice today. First, after I won my first game after the update, an achievement icon appeared on the screen for surpassing $500K total winnings. After it disappeared, the game was stuck on the "level up" screen where it adds the stars to your current rank. The second time was when I was trying to play my first online game. I was Yellow and the red player disconnected as Blue was spinning, which replaced him in the score standings with an AI player, and the game would not advance after the Wheel stopped.

I got it for the PS4 via Blu-Ray disc (complete with the Jeopardy! game), but after reading all that I read so far, it's probably going to be a while before I play it. Chances are I won't until whatever is causing the game to freeze is fixed. Even so, I'm glad that the game can be fixed and updated whether or not it's on Blu-Ray or digital download. Besides, at least I know what to expect, especially with the 1/2 Car Tags.

Now I don't want to say it's impossible to overcome an opponent if he or she gets the car through those Tags, but there's no question that it's still extremely difficult. Yeah, it's improbable, it's unlikely, but given the right circumstances, guys, it's not impossible.

In the meantime, I've been adding and updating information about the game on our Wiki.