Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

Games people play.

A short while back I did an article on the card game Bridge. I hope I did not give the impression that there was only one game to be played on the Internet. Far from it. This article will introduce you to several other games and gaming sites. These can be a way to spend an evening or perhaps a chance to get your mind off work for a few minutes.

You may want to browse those listed below to see their game lists. If you want to find out where a particular game can be played, enter the name in a search engine.

For starters, I took another look at Yahoo games and discovered a very large number of games that can be played including these card games that are available in addition to Bridge. Pinochle, Canasta, Cribbage, Spades and Hearts are all accessible and many whose names I did not recognize at all. Then there are board games such as Backgammon, Chinese checkers and Go. Those above are played with random partners and some like anagrams and crosswords that you can play by yourself. All of these and others like Pirate Gems and Snap Shot can be played for prizes including a 3-day cruise. A long list of prizewinners on the Yahoo site indicates that almost anyone can be a winner of gift certificates usable anywhere on the web or specific stores like Circuit City or Target with amounts up to $100. If you are going to play some games, it will be wonderful if your efforts can be rewarded.

Another site is Electronic Arts. This is where you can play NHL 2001 or FIFA 2001 MLS. Poppit and casino games like slots and roulette can be played against the computer to earn tokens that may be used to buy chances in weekly cash drawings. Some games can be played for prize tokens, and these can be used to buy a chance on cash drawings, held weekly. This site charges for Pay to Play but you can keep your fees low by winning regularly and using your tokens to pay to play.

Hasbro’s www.Games.com offers an array of card, board and arcade games plus some retail CD-ROM games. They offer Sorry! and Clue, a couple games from the past. They have arcade games like Missile Command, Asteroids and Centipede done in amazing re-creations. You can also compete with others in Monopoly2 and Star Trek. This site does not require a fee.

A website that has some of the best assortment of games is MSN’s site, www.zone.com. There are plenty of free games to play there, like puzzles and trivia and well-known titles such as Bejeweled and Outsmart. There is a fee for the premium games of under $10/mo. Other games on MSN’s, huge and colorful site are, Age of Empires, Acheron’s Call, Combat Flight Simulator, Double Trouble, Reversi, Rogue Spear, Spades, Hearts, Symbolic Link, Word search, Euchre, E.T., Bejeweled as well as Alchemy and Atomoca. There are many down loads available on this site including games (some free), 3D ultra Pinball, The Sims and RC Simulator. Sony’s site, www.thestation.sony.com offers the popular favorites, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. The fee here is also just under $10.00 per month.

Www.worldwinner.com offers the opportunity to play head to head for cash prizes. The entry fee is from 60 cents to $15 and you try to outscore all the world winner players in that game. (Players make a deposit on their credit card and draw from it to play in the games.) The games include Crossword puzzles, Tetris, free cell, solitaire, checkers and chess. The opportunity to play others for cash prizes can be a challenge, of course, and certain states (but not PA.), have gaming laws that prohibit this type of gaming.

The New York Times offers their Sunday Crossword on a trial basis before a fee is charged but now has a Technology Crossword free at www.nytimes.com/diversions. Another site for psychological diversions and brainteasers is at www.hive-mind.com/mindgames. Www.popcap.com offers java puzzle games, as does www.smiliegames.com.

One of games that are popular in the computers we have at the Falls Senior Center is Hangman. This is a word game from the 30’s in which you guess words one letter at a time to save a stick figure from it’s dire fate on a gallows. An invisible hand on the screen does all the work as you do the guessing. You receive some encouraging words at the end of each game and I find the activity good mental exercise as I try to figure out what these common words and names can be.

Another is Ski Free in which you use your mouse to guide a skier in and out between rocks and trees as well as from other skiers and a dog that wanders on the slopes occasionally. Your score has to do with the speed and your skill in keeping the skier from hitting the objects. I find that the little monster, that walks out on the slopes and devours our worthy skier toward the end of the run, to be hysterical if not a bit gruesome. I can send you either of these two games if you send me a blank formatted floppy and a self addressed stamped envelope. If you have a used floppy that you do not need any longer, put on a new blank label and reformat it for me. To perform this operation, put the floppy in the A drive, click on My Computer, right click on Floppy Drive and then left click on Format. Choose Full Format and remove the disk when the formatting is complete. Allow a week or so for me to return it to you. Your request should be to my attention at FTSC, PO Box 24, Fairless Hills, PA 19030.

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant. He can be reached at mouseclix2@yahoo.com. Previous articles can be seen at http://mouseclix.tripod.com