Bewitched, a cross between a board game and a trivia game, has quite a lot of variety and is full of charm, but it never manages to be fun to play. The goal of the game is to make it from one end of the board to the other by answering questions and completing minigames. You maneuver Samantha, and in typical Bewitched fashion, the plot involves her mother Endora and the horrible things she intends to do to Samantha's husband, Darrin. Though there are some interesting questions on a surprisingly wide range of topics, they repeat frequently, even within the first few games of play. Even more upsetting is that none of the little minigames interspersed throughout the gameplay are entertaining. The most interesting aspect of Bewitched is the trivia, and after a few rounds, you've already seen most of the questions.
The game makes good use of the license, although it's a strange combination of the television show and the upcoming movie. The characters are all drawn in the classic Bewitched animation that was used in the television show credits, but Darrin is quite noticeably inspired by the blond, curly-haired Will Ferrell, instead of the darker and more serious Dick York. Although the game's appearance is quite good in general on the LG VX7000, there are no stills from either the movie or the TV show. The game does make clever use of the license within the sound effects. A very good rendition of the Bewitched theme plays on the menus, and the sound of Samantha wiggling her nose plays every time the dice rolls. Overall, the presentation is a nice package.
Strangely, none of the trivia questions seem to be about the movie; instead, they all refer to episodes from the show, general facts about witches, and trivia about the 1960s, when the show originally aired. Four colored spaces on the board represent the four topics: magic, pop culture, television, and potpourri. To move around the board, you merely roll a die, which will let you move forward one to three spaces. If you land on a colored square, you'll be given a question from that category. For every three questions you answer correctly, you're given the opportunity to play a minigame for additional points. For every three questions you answer incorrectly, you're forced to play a minigame that will either end the game for you or let you continue with a penalty.
Thankfully the minigames are quite short, since all four are pretty much a chore to play. Bounce is a Breakout/Arkanoid-esque game, where you must bounce the ball to the side of the colored breakable squares and land it on one of the four floating heads above them. Points are allotted based on how quickly you can do it and how few blocks you can break in the process. The problem is that this task is fairly easy, and both the ball and paddle move extremely slowly, making the game minimally entertaining. Follow the light is a spoof on Simon, where you must repeat patterns after the computer. Like Bounce, it's simply far too slow. Match 3 requires you to memorize where three of the same-colored dots are on a board before they disappear from sight. You have three opportunities to uncover three of the same colors for the maximum point bonus. This game is good, but once you know the objective, it's too simple. Traffic mimics Frogger, except that you're Samantha flying through the skies on a broom, and you must avoid floating dots and pick up Darrin's head along the way. Again, this minigame is too slow and too simple to be worth playing once every three questions. You'll find yourself trying to get questions wrong so that you don't have to play the minigames as frequently.
The losing minigame is the cup game (à la three-card monte) with witches' hats. One of the "prizes" is "game over," which ends the game instantly, while the other two let you continue but punish you in some way, by either removing points or sending you back a few spaces on the board. There are a few non-colored spaces that offer alternate rewards (or punishments). Brooms will warp you further forward or further back, depending on which way they're facing. If you land on one of your relatives' heads, you'll receive a point bonus or play a minigame.
All in all, there's quite a bit to do in Bewitched, and it's a shame that none of it is much fun. If you're a fan of witch trivia or Bewitched, you'll probably find some value in the game's questions, but you'll have to suffer through a lot of extraneous, boring stuff along the way. If you're indifferent to Bewitched, look elsewhere.
