Hasbro's Family Game Night collection has been hit and miss since the inception of the series. The publisher has brought many of its classics (and some of their subsequent, lesser-favored spinoffs) into the digital realm for the first time. But platforms like the Xbox 360 have been plagued by complications with online play, and a download platform that has managed only to muck up the matter even worse.

Still, it is the games themselves included in the collections that will win over gamers, and Hasbro Family Game Night 3 has the most interesting (if not the most impressive) line-up of titles yet, going the disc-based route for the third installment. This time around, players are offered digital recreations of Life, Mouse Trap, Clue, Twister and Yahtzee: Hands Down. But again, the series is hit and miss, getting two out of five big successes in the mix, with some strange twists filling out the roster.

Life is the best of the bunch, offering a fairly accurate recreation of the board game. Players spin a wheel to move around the board of Life, trying to collect the most money (in both cash and assets) before reaching retirement. Along the way, players can decide between college or a job, get married, have children, take the risky or safe path, collect Life tiles (signifying major events, containing monetary values) and buy houses.

The digital version of the game drags a bit, but does allow for some skips of scenes to get through things. Some of the events, like buying houses and getting jobs, are conducted through mini-games. But like the mini-games infused into most of Family Game Night 3's collection, there isn't enough variation, and after a short while they get dull. Still, all-in-all, Life is a nice recreation.

Yahtzee: Hands Down is the other decent title. It's not very deep, with options for 4- or 8-minute games, but it works well for four players local or online. Players simply rotate, choosing which cards to discard and redraw in an attempt to match a combo card placed in the middle of the screen. The first player to get it and call "Hands Down" takes the card, and then a new one is presented. The rotation goes around until the clock runs out, and the player with the most combo cards wins. It is fast paced, with the opportunity for anyone at the table to buzz in as the combos change, but only one player allowed to rotate at a time. It's a rare card game that seems to function more efficiently in a digital environment, but Yahtzee: Hands Down does just that.

But Mouse Trap, Clue and Twister all bring down the collection in various ways. Mouse Trap suffers from being a bad game to begin with, based entirely on a long building process and lackluster ending where players randomly run in circles until one gets a lucky roll. It also contains only one mini-game used to design the contraption. It's absolutely ludicrous that more mini-games aren't offered to keep this even remotely exiting.

Clue isn't bad, but as a way of simplifying things, players don't get the true feeling of playing clue. Looking at a checklist is a non-factor, and the "Rumor" system leaves something to be desired. To that end, the "clues" offered are relatively useless, in a game that feels more like a process of getting to the end. Clue is by no means terrible, but it's just not as much fun as playing the board game.

And finally, the million-dollar question - how the heck does one play Twister in video game form? As a rhythm game, of course. Hasbro's adaptation of Twister is in name only, a key example of using a franchise name to sell a game that really has nothing but some dots in common with its namesake. Players are given rhythms they must repeat to succeed, with increasing difficulty. Even with a variety of genres and songs, Twister sadly holds no relevance in the digital realm of gaming.

Each game also offers a "Remix" mode. Life, for instance, offers a race to retirement. Mouse Trap opens a multiple-trap mode and Twister offers a rotation mode. The rule changes are minor though, with most games played in the same manner or barely changed. And all-in-all, it's not quite enough to salvage Hasbro Family Game Night 3. Players are better off going online and hoping Life and Yahtzee: Hands Down get individual purchase option rather than only a package that includes three failures.

Final Score: D+