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| In the course of evaluating learning software, we have given our "testers" a variety of games to try out along the way. Here are seven programs that have come back with near universal "thumbs up". |
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Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games
Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games, the newest in the Hoyle Game series, is for those who enjoy word based games (i.e. crosswords, anagrams, or hangman) or visually based problem solving games (i.e. mahjong or finding your way through a maze). The board games include Checkers (both regular and Chinese), Snakes and Ladders, Placer Racer (an evolved form of Tetris) and Battling Ships. For greater challenge, you can move up to Backgammon, Dominoes, Mancala and for an even higher level of challenge MaJong and Chess, to name a few. This collection of 15 games will have appeal to both younger and older players, as well as providing a number of games that two can play together on the computer
What we liked about this collection was the fact that if there was a particular game that you really liked, there were all kinds of variations of the game available. Mahjong (see screen shot) for example had over 30 different layouts that provided lots of new and interesting challenges. The program also has The Incredible Machine Even More Contraptions, which is a high quality thinking program that was sold on it's own, and is now part of this collection. If you have ever played Snood, an incredibly popular game that circulated on the web, Hoyle Puzzle and Board Games has their version (see screen shot) in this collection. Hoyle continue to produce, in our view, the best games software of this kind. This program runs on Windows only.
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Pricing and Online Ordering
(or call toll free -1-800-250-9229 )
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Hoyle Word Games
Hoyle Word Games is a mix of 9 classic word games and a few new ones that are designed for the unique interactive capabilities of the computer. Like Board Games, these programs, with four levels of difficulty, will interest anybody over the age of 10 who, in this case, has a love for playing with words. The classics are here; Hangman, Crosswords (both regular and Cryptic), Anagrams, Wordox (Scrabble by another name) and Word Searches. A very engrossing new game is called Enigma, which has you attempting to break encoded messages on a screen version of the real Enigma code machine of WW 2 fame. Another new game, Speedy Racer, is a challenge to your typing skills, as you attempt to save the three little pigs from "you know who".
The Game Guide book gives you complete instruction and strategy techniques for each game, as well as the history of the origins of each of the games. This program has all the same design qualities that we have mentioned in the other Hoyle program profiles. If you are a word game fanatic or know one, this is the one to choose. (Windows 95/98/00/ME, Pentium 133 or higher, MacIntosh. PowerPC or PowerMac G3 including iMac, OS 7.5.3 or higher)
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Pricing and Online Ordering
(or call toll free -1-800-250-9229 )
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Hoyle Card & Poker Games
The Hoyle Card & Poker Games program has lots of choice for card players of any age (18 games in total). For younger players there are games like Old Maid, Go Fish, War and Crazy Eights, to name a few. For the more advanced players, there is Hearts, Poker, Cribbage and Canasta and, all the way up to Bridge.
As with other Hoyle programs, you can play with up to 4 computer opponents or play with your own opponents. For each game you can customize the settings such as level of difficulty, number of players, or type of music in background, to name a few. You can stop and save any game in progress and resume at any time. The program provides complete descriptions of all the rules for each game and the quality of the graphics and ease of navigation are both excellent. (Windows 95/98/00/ME, Pentium 133 or higher)
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Pricing and Online Ordering
(or call toll free -1-800-250-9229 )
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