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Countdown electronic game

From Countdown
Original model

The Countdown electronic game was a small hand-held computer game. It was produced in two models, the earlier of which was formerly given away in the goody bag to the contestants. The first model measured about 14 cm by 11 cm. Players could play a 9 round game by choosing their own letters and numbers. Players could play letters games and select vowels and consonants, and have the computer verify and generate the words. They could also play numbers games by selecting large and small numbers, although the solutions had to be inputted with brackets all as one line, rather than by using steps as written on the whiteboard on the real show. This made inputting solutions laborious. There were also conundrums, although it was difficult to input the solution quickly, as the player had to press nine individual buttons before pressing enter. A second model, redesigned for the 15 round format, was later released with a new design.

Julian Fell famously said that he'd trained himself over a long period by playing the electronic game, which is how he learned so many words, while players using other anagram programs tend to pick up a lot of invalid words as well as many valid ones.

Second model