<sarcasm>First off, I’m glad to see Dr. Knizia doesn’t have an ego.</sarcasm>

Second… wow these games are boring.

I think I’m selling all of my Knizia stock as he’s getting too big for his britches.

I’m playing the DS version and I sorta get off on an animated Knizia congratulating me and handing out medals.

He’s got this little dance that is a little freaky though.

The games in the DS version are fun and a bit more ‘gamey’ then their classic counter parts.

Alan, the animated Knizia and his brazen talk is another nod/homage/swipe from Brain Age, which has the disembodied head of Dr. Kawashima (who has written on exercises for training the brain) urging you on. And yes, the puzzles are aimed at a different market than gamers.

Eric

Nice DS game; each game has five levels. The first one is VEEEERY basic (like easy versions of classic games like Mastermind, Yathzee, Minefield, Memory, Simon, etc.).
The advanced levels become more interesting, with a bunch of nice twists.
Each puzzle starts with a random setup each time, so you can play it different times (this is not a case of another DS game, “Professor Layton”, with beautiful puzzles you can solve only once).
Still need to solve 4 or 5 of the bonus levels…

Anyway, this is a game aimed to puzzle lovers, not boardgame lovers! Still waiting for a “101 Knizia Classics” videogame…

I love puzzles like Sudoku and Picross and such… my disappointment (which is solely based on the demo) is based on the 4x4 Poker Squares and “count the sea animals” games they’ve come up with. Perhaps this is simply the case of a failed demo, but isn’t the demo supposed to make me want to buy it vs. wanting to run far away? That said, everyone needs to try it out for themselves.

As for the into screen with the great and legendary Dr. Knizia… I didn’t know they were paralleling Brain Age. When I play these types of games it’s usually on my Pocket PC and not a DS.

You are correct, Alan: I guess they chose the wrong games to show in the demo.
For puzzle lovers there are more intriguing games (a sort of Mastermind, a sort of Light the Bulbs, and so on).
Anyway, even 4x4 Poker Squares becomes more interesting in later levels…
...but sadly the whole game is NOT a masterpiece.