Deal or No Deal: Around the World

Deal or No Deal really shouldn’t work as a gameshow.

For one thing there’s absolutely no skill involved, other than the ability to say numbers out loud while standing up and breathing, I guess.

There’s also no way that the contestant cannot win, with every person who competes guaranteed to walk away with at least a pound to their name.

It does work, though, because of the way it’s presented. The tense psychological battles with The Banker and the contestant’s constant fear of ‘only’ winning five pounds because they picked their mother’s birthday instead of their dog’s, help give the show a tangible sense of tension.

But to make it work on your Android handset it’s going to need a lot to disguise the fact that you’re just picking random numbers. With no real money involved there’s nothing at stake. And with no superstitious competitors around, who’s there to laugh at/cheer on?

Yet if that's the case, why am I mumbling to myself and insulting The Banker out loud in public?

To circumnavigate the lack of real money, DOND:ATW takes place across eight different world locations, each unlocked by raising the maximum winnings you’ve acquired.

The different locations aren’t that varied, with the same plastic presenter and studio graphics used for each, but they do have different intros and scary cloned women holding the prize boxes.

New locations' prize amounts increase, so that while the initial top win in Egypt is ‘only’ $25,000, Australia offers a staggering $200,000. As only your highest winnings from each country is counted, the tension does mount surprisingly well as you near the end of each game.

This is mainly down to the excellent Banker who will begin to offer decent-looking amounts in order to tempt you away. With the knowledge that the $100,000 will unlock Paris, but that one of the three boxes only holds $700, it really starts to crawl under your skin.

DOND:ATW also features the Play As Banker mode found in its Java cousin, in which the roles are reversed and your job is to make the contestant win as little as possible.

It’s a clever idea, but lacks the same impact as the main mode due to its one-off gameplay, with the money the contestant wins not being carried over further than the one game.

For UK fans of the show, possibly the biggest disappoint will be the lack of Noel Tidybeard, but even the absence of the crazy shirt-wearing mystic doesn’t detract too much from the overall game.

Deal or No Deal: Around the World really shouldn’t work as an Android game. It does work, though, because of the way it’s presented.