If you suffer from Prosopagnosia, it means you lack the ability to recognize and identify faces. It also means you will most definitely have some difficulty with the game, Face It, by Mystery Studio (previously Mr. Io Software). If that's the case, you'll be better off playing other fun matching games like Swap or Spin Around.

Face It is also a matching game, but it is unquestionably much more than that. In fact, it really should belong to a different category all together. If it were up to me, I'd place it in the “Cross Multi-characteristics Matching” category of games. Of course, that doesn't exist so we'll just have to deal with that.

With Face It, you have a board (7 x 9) of different faces and, yes, you need to match 3 or more, but you have a shopping list of attributes to look at and match. For example, you can simply match 3 redheads; or 3 girls with the same hairstyle; or 3 girls with the same facial expression or eye color, etc. If you, however, match 3 or more green-eyed redheads with pigtails looking surprised-- jackpot! Achieving that, however, is a challenge, but do-able! Actually there's more. Faces can be matched by hair color, facial expression, eye color, eye shape, hairstyle, or facial hairstyle, i.e., beard, mustache, clean shaven. Some guys are bald but have, for instance, red facial hair! I know. Whoa.

It sounds impossible, doesn't it? When I launched Face It, I thought the same thing, "Ohmyga! There's no way I’ll be able to play this complicated beast. I started playing the game and my suspicions were realized: the game was HARD. And like most people, I do not like to fail, so... I quit. Face It not only overwhelmed me but sort of traumatized me. I mean, ALL those faces looking at me!! Plus I felt the graphics were a bit hard on the eyes, but that's just my personal take. Face It reminded me of very old PC games from the 80's, so it took a little while to get used to the graphics.

I couldn't just give up so I launched Face It again, but this time with a different strategy: READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Okay, did I forget to mention that there are really helpful tutorial bubbles with very clear and explanatory text? Read those in the training mode and you'll want to continue. I didn't at first, which left me in my previously rejecting and ultimately unsatisfying situation. After I read through these hints (there aren't that many; I was just being lazy before), I could actually play without total embarrassment. Yay!

There are 3 modes of play: 1) Timed: You have 40 or so seconds to complete the level, so you better hurry! 2) Falling Faces. This mode gives you an adrenaline rush. Make your matches before the board fills up. 3) Untimed: No time limit. You seriously can play this mode feeling relaxed yet challenged at the same time. There are also bonus levels with 2 different games: a pair matching and a memory game. I wouldn't mind something completely different in the bonus rounds, but you can opt to skip these if you choose which I found a great option.

“Wildcard” bonuses in the form of silhouettes, hats, sunglasses and clown noses kick everything up a notch and throw in a little game spice, a nice touch. And, if you ever feel stuck, just ask Mr. Hint for a little help and you'll get back into the game in no time.

You really need to look at the differences and details of the heads carefully on the board, which I really like. I wasn't expecting that originally, so I guess that's why I felt like rejecting it. Perhaps I am just getting used to games and how many of them work so similarly, that when a new game comes along, I sort of expect certain game play.

Face It is different. It has more depth in game play for a so-called matching game because of all the detail you must examine. That makes the game interesting and the game play is far more varied from others in the same category. It's really fun, and you can play it a long, long, time if you choose, practically forever. There are millions of levels and millions of combinations of matches.

The best part of it is you can choose how challenging you want it to be for yourself in each level to try to find as many matches with the most matching characteristics. Be lazier about it and find a set with just one or two common traits. It's up to you. You can also compete against other scores on the Faceit High Scores Board online.

Technical Issues: 1) Full screen mode forced me to reposition the picture on my screen as the game was pulled way over to the left. The plus side is that there's a window mode. 2) I had sluggish performance in the menus with a slow reacting mouse, but had no problems inside the game levels.

If you're the type of person who is not adept at remembering faces but don't go as so far as suffering from the disorder, Prosopagnosia, Face It may help you improve your face recognition issues. If not, it'll definitely get your brain working and have some fun at the same time.

Face It by Mystery Studio (formerly Mr. Io Software) is $19.95