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New Look for Some Old Games

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Sierra On-Line has published a new collection of board games in “Hoyle Official Book of Games: Volume 3.” All six games are old standards, many with origins centuries old. Mostof them don’t translate very well to the computer screen, but a couple might keep you amused--briefly.

Dominoes: This simple game lends itself fairly well to two-player competition with a human playing the computer.

Backgammon: If you need practice more than warm companionship, the computer might be a helpful opponent. Know the rules; the help provided on-line is limited.

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Yacht: Yahtzee players will recognize this dice-throwing poker derivative. It’s not bad playing against a friend on this one if you have two input devices (a mouse and a joystick, for instance) so you don’t have to play musical mouses or chairs. Two pluses: You never run out of score sheets and the computer does all the counting.

Checkers: This one just doesn’t make it. The whole point of playing board games with a computer is not having to wait for your opponent to make decisions. You could take a nap between moves on this one.

Snakes and Ladders: It’s cute and it’s animated. And that’s about it. Don’t take away your kids’ fun by plopping them in front of the computer for this old favorite.

Pachisi: Another game best left on the board. In the original version, this one is only worth playing when you have a bunch of friends gathered around on a rainy day. The computer’s characters just don’t cut it.

So the count is three maybes and three definitely nots. Not exactly a rousing vote of confidence. Besides, hot chocolate and potato chips just don’t go with keyboards.

Games

Rating: **

IBM and compatibles; 640K; mouse recommended. List: $49.95.

Computer games are rated on a five-star system, from one star for poor to five for excellent.

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