Countdown is an educational game for learners of English (level B2 and above) and for native speakers, based on 'Hangman' in which players have to guess a word which is represented by a row
of dashes representing each letter. The player types in a letter, if this is in the word, it is then displayed in the corresponding position. If a letter is not in the word, the player's opening quota of 10 attempts is reduced by one and the player tries again. The player has lost the game when no more
attempts are available.
The game can be played in two modes, - individual more, by one person playing alone, and in competition mode, here, up to 4 players or teams can play against each other.
In both playing modes, players can choose from a wide selection of categories (sport, music, occupations, travel, holidays, business, personality, etc.) or can select 'random', where any word in
the database has to be guessed, this is more difficult as no indication is given of the category the word is in.
In individual mode, a player's current and previous scores are displayed.
In competition mode, there are five rounds, at the end of which the winning player/team is shown.
There is an on-board dictionary which players can use to look up any unknown words.