Hoyle Board Games

• Release Date: 1998
• Genre: Traditional
• Style: Board Game
• Similar Games: Hoyle Classic Board Games (IBM PC Compatible), Hoyle Board Games [1999] (Hybrid Windows/Mac)

Game Description

Sierra's Hoyle Board Games is a compendium of 14 classic board games with three card games thrown in as a bonus. Up to four people can participate in many of the board games with a select few accommodating only two-player action. Opponents can be human or computer controlled and Sierra's free World Opponent Network (WON) provides Internet play for 11 of the 14 games www.won.net.

In lieu of Internet play, you can choose from ten of Hoyle's interactive players as computer controlled opponents or play against friends on a single computer. The computer players are customizable in terms of attitude and skill levels. Most of the games contain numerous variations that allow configuration of local "house" rules such as the mandatory capturing convention in checkers. Also adjustable are the music and background options in Hoyle Board Games.

Among the 14 games in the collection are Chess, Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Parchisi, Yacht which is an early Canadian forerunner of the commercialized Yahtzee (also known as Poker Dice) and Dominoes. Several other games also have more well-known counterparts such as Zen Bones, a form of Mah Jongg and Reversi, a modern version that bears close resemblance to the old Asian game known simply as Go.

The remaining half dozen games consist of Backgammon, Battling Ships (more well known as Battleships), Mancala, a game considered to possibly have roots as far back as ancient Egypt, Placer Racer, an arcade/billiards-style action game, the basic mechanics of which are evident in such early computer games as Tetris and Atari's Breakout, Line 'em Up, a four-in-a-row variation of Tic-Tac-Toe played on a larger grid and finally, Snakes & Ladders.

The game ships with a 100-plus page manual that gives an in-depth array of facts regarding each of the board games. These facts take form in various sections such as historical aspects that are covered in a treatise on "How the game evolved", followed by a section on "How the game is played." Other data is supplied through strategy and advanced strategy tips.

Rounding out the package are three bonus card games, accessible through the installation of a demo for Hoyle Card Games, a collection of 14 classic card games. The three open for play in Hoyle Board Games are solitaire, Gin Rummy and Cribbage.

Roots & Influences

All of the 14 board games contained in Hoyle Board Games are based on the original released board games. Many have varied and long histories associated with play and evolution.

Review: Overall

Whether you're reliving the halcyon days of family fun when your brothers, sisters, mom and dad gathered around the dining room table and partook of family value night (known as board gaming) or are new to the games in this collection, Hoyle Board Games has something for everyone. Keeping the idea of family entertainment alive and irrespective of the misnomer of the title (some of the 14 selections are not board games in a technical sense), this compendium of games, both new and ancient, provides wholesome fun for gamers of all ages.

A trip down memory lane, an evening of solitaire game playing with computer controlled opponents or full-fledged family and friend interaction -- all are possible with Hoyle Board Games. Perhaps there was a favorite game you played as a youth and feel like waxing nostalgic or maybe you're a novice board gamer and just want to see what all the hoopla is about. Regardless of your motive, if you've got some spare time on your hands, consider an evening (or many evenings) with the offerings of this game pack.

Before touching on the specific games, a few insights into the overall structure of the collection are in order. The game installs beautifully and sets up a shell that requires no more than a single icon to gain access to all the games. Within the game proper, you can use a handy drop menu for game selection or use the opening screen where the 14 games are displayed in a circle, along with options to select a locale (backdrop) in the form of a rustic cabin or outer space for your playing pleasure.

Hoyle Board Games is loaded with options and preferences, both game specific and overall administration. Some include 15 choices for your onscreen alter ego, ranging from silhouettes to a character with a brown paper bag (with eyeholes) over his or her head and preferences for background music (toggle off, random or specific selection from 12 types). Other options focus on game speed and on/off toggles for animations, sound effects, computer opponent speech and even character attitude (serious to talkative).

Each of the games has a specific document file that pops up when selected. Up to three tabs are immediately available and differ according to the nature of the game. For example, select Backgammon and you'll be offered tabs on getting started, rules and scoring. All of these game files, for want of a better term, contain nicely designed illustrations pertaining to the specific game as well as clear, precise and easy to follow instructions.

Options available when getting started include opponent selection preference (human or computer controlled), customizable settings such as a choice of 30 backgrounds and a dozen music themes (random is my personal choice of setting for both music and backgrounds) and three selectable skill levels, beginner, intermediate or expert. The ten computer controlled opponents are the same for all 14 games and include 2 animals (alligator and bear), two aliens (Roswell and Gax) and six "humans." All have short biographies, animations and individual characteristics (accent, affinity for specific games, mannerisms, etc.)

The game contains a very well designed manual that covers an amazing amount of material regarding the history of board gaming. The articles on each game center on topics such as how the game evolved, how it is played and the object, strategies and, for some, advanced strategies. The treatise on game history is both fascinating and informative. But how do the games translate to the computer screen? The short answer: wonderfully!

Throughout my review of all 14 games, I left the difficulty setting on intermediate, mid-range settings for character attitudes and talkativeness (speech on), random music and backgrounds, medium game speed with animations and sound effects on. Unlike many games I've encountered, the music was quite acceptable (never turned it off) and while the remarks associated with each opponent varied to a small degree, the repetition of the same comments became slightly irritating over time but never to the point of fatal distraction.

For the sake of organization, I'll tackle the games alphabetically. Never having played a game of Backgammon in my life but always with an eyebrow-raised interest on the rare occasion I saw it being played, I was amazed when I found myself embroiled in matches against my wise-cracking forest ranger opponent within five minutes of reading and learning the rules. Rules I had always considered somewhat complex (not knowing any better) until given the opportunity to play. It took me four tries but I finally emerged victorious with my first Backgammon win in history; who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

As an aside and so as not to have to say it repeatedly, I found overall play in the games to be very smooth with good responsiveness of controls (all games have both keyboard and mouse interface capability with shortcut keys easily learned via game specific drop down menus). For this review I used a Pentium with MMX capability, 200MHz, 96MB RAM and full installation of the game and never once encountered a slow down, stuttering speech or breakup of music. The game performed admirably on all fronts.

Remember the game you used to play using either graph paper or by drawing your own 10x10 grid layout? My friends and I called it Battleships but the version in Hoyle goes by the name of Battling Ships. With the capabilities of the computer, however, options of keeping track of hits and misses was much easier than those early days of pen and paper and there were more as well. For example, you can select an option to fire multiple missiles per turn, ranging from one to six, at your opponent dependent on how many of your own ships remain.

As the game progresses, you can eventually drop from six shots a turn to only one or you can choose a specific number of shots per turn throughout the game. The option to show a second grid to keep track of your opponents shots against you during the course of the game was quite handy (not in a tactical way, of course, but for information). The entire battle is played out via animated missile launchers, one on each side of the screen, with missile flares, big splashes for misses and explosion sound effects better than some combat simulations I've played. To speed up the game, you can toggle the animations off if you wish.

I was never a big fan of Checkers (Chess was always my game of choice for strategic challenges), so I was very surprised when I jumped out to two straight wins before falling ignominiously in defeat. There's not too much possible in sprucing up a game of Checkers but the designers managed to find one offbeat presentation in addition to the normal appearance of pieces, namely, frogs. Yes, you can use animated frogs as pieces with realistic sound effects, I might add. Perhaps taking the realism too far, the option to feed the frogs during the course of the game by loosing a fly (complete with annoying buzz) that flitters about the screen and is zapped repeatedly by the slurping frogs is a bit more than I need in a Checkers game. Personally, I'd stick with the round red and black pieces.

The next game is Chess and I found the computer AI to be more than adequate for most casual chess players. Without any of the major frills of dedicated chess games on the market, the game still managed to be very playable with a couple of options. For example, you can choose a wood or marble board shown in either 2D or 3D perspective (I found the spacebar toggle that quickly changes between the two to be very handy, as I like to view the games from both angles (top down and isometric)). In 3D mode, your pieces become transparent when the cursor hovers over them, allowing a better panoramic view of the board.

In my youth, I don't believe I ever played a game of Chinese Checkers with a full complement of six people. Imagine my surprise when I managed to finish in second place in my first game (that alien Gax aced me out by one move!). Whether you play against just one opponent or five, the usually overlooked strategic aspects of the game are alive and well, especially when you ramp the difficulty setting up to expert with a full boat of players. Egad. The endless possibilities boggle the mind.

Dominoes. Never have to worry about losing a tile again! The version used in Hoyle Board Games comes with three game variations including block (no drawing of additional tiles), draw (taking additional tiles when blocked) and Sebastopol. The latter requires the first four plays of the game to branch out in all four directions from the original 6-6 tile that acts as the base domino. You can set the winning score to either 100, 200 or 300, use five or seven dominoes (bones) and play with two, three or four players. A very handy shortcut is a simple RMB click once your tile is selected, sending it automatically to the layout (assuming only one play is possible).

The only game to which I can compare the next selection, Line 'em Up, is tic-tac-toe, albeit in a much diversified form. Two players take alternate turns dropping "checkers" or discs into a slotted grid that has seven columns and six rows. The object, depending on which variation you choose, is to line up the most "three-in-a-row" combinations (each player has their own color discs) or be the first to line up "four-in-a-row." Much easier said than done. As the columns begin to fill up, you must watch not only for horizontal and vertical "line ups" but diagonal as well. Simple on the surface, this game requires some definite strategic choices.

Probably the most complex (in terms of understanding) of the games in the collection is Mancala, a game whose origin is the subject of considerable debate among gaming scholars. Archeologists have found evidence that the game was played in Egypt between 1580 to 1150 BC, while another theory of popular belief is that it was devised in Ceylon, an island off southern India in 2nd Century BC.

Mancala (or Manqala) comes from the Arabic word "naqala" which means "to move." The layout can be pictured by imagining two rows of six cups, one above the other, with a larger cup on each end. Two players sit across from each other with their own Mancala, the large cup, being the one on the right side of the layout from their perspective. At the beginning of the game, the 12 small cups are filled with an equal number of "stones" (pieces), with variations in number ranging from three to six. The more stones, the longer the game.

Gameplay alternates between the players, as they take the full contents of any one of their own six cups and, moving counter-clockwise, drop one stone in each cup as they move around the full layout. The only exception in dropping the stones is that you never drop one into your opponent's Mancala (the large cup on your left). The strategies in this game are endless and can become very complex.

Two other gameplay rules really mix things up. If your last stone falls into your own Mancala, you get another turn; this can continue as long as you can get the last stone of each play to fall into your Mancala. The other rule also deals with the last stone you drop -- if it falls into an empty cup (on your side of the layout only), both it and all the stones in the cup opposite (your opponent's side of the layout) go into your Mancala! The winner is simply the player who ends up with the most stones in his or her Mancala. This one is a truly fascinating game.

The ancient game of Pachisi, introduced in England as Parcheesi in 1874, is a straightforward conversion of the board game. Variations, also known as Sorry! and Trouble, exist but in slightly altered states. Four players with four markers each attempt to move their pieces after rolling dice from their base area around a board with 64 "squares" on it. Each quadrant of the board (17 squares) has a "safety" square at the seventh and twelfth spaces from their starting square where they can't be sent back to their starting base if an opponent lands on it concurrently.

To win, you must move your pieces around the board (only once is required but certain strategies might dictate additional trips around) and finally up a "home stretch" (not part of the 64 squares) to the center of the board. First person with all four pieces "home" wins. Several rules and strategies apply such as blocking (two pieces on the same square) and "bumping" opponents back to their starting base (receive an extra 20 moves in the bargain). Also, you cannot move blockades (two of your own pieces on one square) with dice rolls that are doubles (no "moving blockades" in other words).

Entering "home" must be done with an exact roll (the results of the two dice can be applied separately or jointly to pieces) at which time you receive an extra ten moves for your other pieces. Conversely, getting out of your starting area requires a roll of five on one die or a combination of five with both dice. While playing Pachesi, I couldn't help but be reminded of the many Parcheesi tournaments we used to have when I was a young board gamer. Fun for the entire family and highly spirited with "bumping" being the activity of choice, much like smacking another person's ball away from the target in Croquet.

Next on the list is Placer Racer, akin to gameplay found in Tetris and Breakout, the old Atari game. Actually, the game reminds me of a Velcro version of the latter. Simply, you press the spacebar to launch a colored ball into the game arena and it sticks to the first thing it hits, another ball or the ceiling (it bounces off the sides, so carom shots are welcome!). When three or more of the same colored balls touch, they disappear along with any linked balls below them. Your goal? Clear each level by getting rid of all the balls between the shooter mechanism and the ceiling.

This particular game comes with a warning, as do other games of its ilk. Caution: addictive! As simple as it is, Placer Racer is still one of the most addictive games in the compilation. Unlike other games in the pack, four different types of controllers can be used: joystick, gamepad, keyboard and mouse. The options include two player, solid or marble balls and two board types, space and stars.

Anyone who has ever played Othello will understand Reversi immediately. They are essentially the same. Two players face off across an 8x8 grid, using either black and white or purple and yellow markers. They take turns placing their pieces onto the grid but only on grid-squares that sandwich your opponent's markers. Once placed, his or her markers flip to your color. Horizontal, vertical and diagonal all count in this race to see who can end the game with the most markers. The game begins with four markers in the center of the grid, two of each player's color in a crossed pattern.

Right off the board and onto your screen comes Snakes and Ladders. Although perceived as a child's game, its history goes back as far as 6,000 years! The version in Hoyle Board Games is visually pleasing to the eye and the characters have very simple but amusing antics. Basically the game consists of a path (starting at the bottom left corner) of 100 blocks, or stepping stones, that is broken into horizontal switchbacks of ten steps each and ends at the upper left corner of the screen. Placed in strategic locations throughout the "climb" are vertical ladders (for going up) and snakes (for sliding down).

Gameplay consists of rolling one die and moving your character one to six spaces. If the character lands on a block at the base of a ladder (a red square) or stops at the top of a snake (light blue square), it reacts accordingly by taking a "shortcut" in either direction. First player to the top wins. The only fault with this game lies in the fact that the player is relegated to nothing more than "rolling" the die -- no hands on movement of the characters.

Up to four players can play Snakes and Ladders and there are three separate methods for generating the die roll. You can click on a circle that shows next to your onscreen player when it's your turn and the number appears in the circle, you can click on a "crank wheel" that looks like a faucet valve or press the spacebar.

The next to last game is familiar in America as Yahtzee, a dice game (not a board game), but is called Yacht in this collection. Not nearly as complicated as first glance would seem, the game consists of 12 turns with each turn resulting in entry of a point total from the dice or pre-determined score onto to 12 categories. It's a five-dice game with the player simply shaking up the dice container and dumping them on a table (your screen, in this case) and determining which configuration he or she wishes to use on that particular roll.

Using the same principle of replacing unwanted cards in draw poker, Yacht allows the same thing with each dice roll but with two possible re-rolls (draws) instead of just one. Gameplay is simple -- use either the mouse or the keypad number to designate which dice you want to keep out of the initial and/or second roll, then press the spacebar or click on the dice cup to roll the remaining dice or die again.

The dozen possible categories (or hands, to use a card analogy) in which you can choose to enter your turn results (but only using each category once per game) are a mixed bag. Half of them are simply the individual die possibilities. For example, you might end up after three rolls of the dice with 1-1-3-5-6. This is, of course, where the strategy comes in -- if early in the game, you'd probably want to enter "2" under your "ones" category. At that point, assuming it was your first turn, the "ones" category can no longer be used the rest of the game.

Similarly, there are categories for twos, threes, fours, fives and sixes for entering the corresponding number of dice showing that total per turn as in the above example. Once used, the category is finished and you must put subsequent results in the remaining categories. This means, usually, that as the turns progress, the chances for filling the higher point value categories diminish. Other categories consist of four of a kind (total of the dice, e.g., could be anywhere from 4 to 24, plus the extra die counts too) and a full house (like in poker) with the score being the total of the dice.

A straight of four (sequenced) and a straight of five (sequenced) each garner a pre-determined score of 25 and 30 respectively. The last two categories include a "wildcard" roll where you simply add all five of the dice together and the much sought after, rarely achieved Yacht, five of a kind worth 50 points. Like Placer Racer, this game is highly addictive and will provide hours of gaming fun by itself.

Finally, rounding out the pack is the simplified Zen Bones, otherwise known in its hundreds of varying forms as Mah Jongg. Another non-board game (it's really a tile game), Zen is one of the most diverse solitaire games in history and in my opinion maybe the best of all time. The version Sierra Attractions included with this collection contains eighteen different layouts and a timer option requiring all moves to be made within 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds (or it can be toggled off). It's a basic game of matching like tiles together and removing them from the layout. The catch is that only tiles that are "open" (with no tiles touching them on either the left or right side) can be matched.

Zen Bones features nifty little animations such as the tile designating the west winds blowing away like a dust storm when matched and removed from the layout. There are six major "suits" in this set including circles (one to nine), Chinese characters, flowers, seasons, compass directions and dragons. There is no scoring per se, just elimination of as many tiles as possible before running out of matches. The game is customizable in several ways and allows you to set your own parameters.

In addition to being able to play against human or computer controlled opponents on the same machine, you can also play against other board gamers over the Internet at www.won.net. Whichever your choice, Hoyle Board Games offers hundreds of hours of playing pleasure with enough variety to satisfy most gamers. For anyone with a fond memory of games played as youthful participants, novices and youngsters getting their first exposure to board gaming or just fans of the genre, this package comes highly recommended.

Review: Enjoyment

During play, I was constantly beset with childhood memories of nights spent with the family while playing certain favorite games. Importantly, though, is the range of games in this collection that run the gamut of appeal to all ages, from child favorites like Snakes and Ladders to more challenging games such as Chess, Mancala and Backgammon, all with a wide range of strategic properties.

Review: Graphics

Not much movement during animation sequences but the object of the game is to play, not watch. Still, the depiction of the various game boards, layouts, tiles and other gaming paraphernalia is crisp and clean looking.

Review: Sound

Voices and limited remarks tend to be annoying after a time and the music, while not distracting, isn't overly impressive. However, the selection isn't bad and the random feature makes it palatable.

Review: Replay Value

Unlimited.

Review: Documentation

Not only is the history of the board game in general discussed in-depth but coverage of every aspect of each specific game is thorough, interesting and comprehensive. Excellent manual.

Production Credits