Word Challenge Contest Winners

We were amazed at some of the words found and the enthusiastic responses from the last contest.

Congratulations to all the winners.

The fastest post with the longest word:
marcia_ames

The three random winners are:
mophimbaie, Abimlech, Deeja

See the next posting for our latest contest.

St. Patrick Day's Sale - Now through 3/20/07

Today is your lucky day. See more green by saving 25% off Farkle Dice for Windows, Palm, or Treos. Use the coupon FARKLE25 when checking out.


Read more or order this lucky dice game.

WordPop! review by Shaun McGill of PDA 247

Many of you will have no doubt noticed how many times I mention WordPop! on the 247 sites and I make no apologies for doing so. It occurred to me that I play this game to the point of blunting my stylus and that it was time I reviewed it to explain why it sits at the top of my PDA gaming list. I have owned countless PDAs since 1989 (over 40 by now) and in all that time must have tried hundreds of games- WordPop! is the best PDA game I have ever played and will probably become my most played game in the near future. Don't panic- I'm not anal enough to keep stats on how many times I play a particular game but I do find it difficult to let a day pass by without having at least one play. The problem is that one play on WordPop! can become over an hour without me noticing.

This is a true story- one night after a few sleepless nights with my children I decided to go to bed at 8pm which is unheard of for me because midnight is my standard bedtime. I sat in bed and thought I would have a quick game of WordPop! I went to sleep at 11:30pm. I was genuinely worried that I had a problem and would be attending a meeting with strangers the next evening... "Hello, my name is Shaun McGill and I can't stop tapping letters with my stylus." It is hard to explain why this game is so addictive but I think the main reason is because the result and combinations are so entirely different every single time I play.

In the first image I have chosen three adjacent letters to make the word 'mix' which gives me 33 points (see top panel). When I click the final letter twice the letters will explode and leave gaps at the top. Those are the rules- enjoy the game:)

OK, there is a lot more to the game but not in terms of complex rules and a steep learning curve. You can be playing this game within 1 minute and if I can use an awful cliche- 'easy to pick up, difficult to master'. On to the second image where you will see a blank tile in the grid (the one on the left)- the was move from the column of three blank tiles on the right and can take the form of any letter you like which is useful if you are really stuck. The idea is to keep all three blank tiles available near the end of the level as letters become scarce. You can win extra lettered tiles by getting words worth over 40 points and higher scoring words will grant you a bonus blank tile.

It is strange how your mind starts to think so far ahead and can spot a multitude of potential words in the grid, some of which you need to make yourself by removing letters that are in the way. Remember you can only remove them by making another word so you have to be aware of how the letters will fall as well. There is a lot in this game to make you think and it takes the best of Tetris, Scrabble and Countdown and pours them into a very professionally made package.

I mentioned earlier how addicted I am to this game and those of you who have played it will no doubt be chuckling at my high score table which I admit is not good (at least compared to some people on the Smart Box Design forums) but I don't care. I worked bloody hard for that 4461 score and am very proud of it!:) I'm also proud of my best word although I have seen some posted that make both of my scores look really stupid...

The small curved arrow icon you can see is a crucial part of WordPop! You use it to flip the letters over- for example if you have a grid that is half full pressing this button will caused the grid to spin 90 degrees and the letters will fall in a slightly different order. There is no element of chance to this- they fall exactly as they should and thus you need to be careful that you understand what will happen when you press it. If you use it well it can dig you out of all sorts of trouble.

There isn't much else to say about WordPop! except that there is a decent help section built in and that the sounds are just perfect for the game. They are so perfect that my text messages now come in sporting the main WordPop! sound- I just cannot get away from this game no matter how hard I try.

Pros
Value for money- only US$14.95
Addictive, very addictive, very very addictive
Sounds and graphics are perfect for the game
Longevity
Improves your vocabulary
Support- Smart Box Design are as good as a developer can get

Cons
Ooh let me think. If I could think of a way to improve it besides asking Smart Box to add some of the unusual swear I know to it's database I would.

Conclusion
I'm sure you can guess where this is going. Trust me when I say you MUST try this game- it is, in my opinion, the best word game available on any mobile device today and I can see myself enjoying it for many years to come.

Available from Smart Box Design for Palm and Windows Mobile devices

Doug Goldring of "Just Another Mobile" Monday Reviews Word Monaco

Review: Word Monaco. Vacation, With a Twist of Spelling…
February 24th, 2007 by dgoldring

Several months ago, I wrote a review of Paragon’s Can’t Stop Solitaires Collection. Any of you faithful readers who remember that review should find it to be no surprise that my favorite vacation activity is playing solitaire…particularly at the beach. Frankly though after several straight hours, traditional 52 card solitaire can become a bit tiresome, especially when the wind keeps blowing he cards off the blanket and whipping them through the air and into the sand. Before long, I need something more to keep my attention. Enter Word Monaco. Word Monaco is a game designed for tireless solitaire players like me who just need an added twist. And what is that twist, you might ask? Spelling. Our old grade school nemesis.

Installation and Registration: Installation is simple. Just download the desktop installer and load it onto your Pocket PC using ActiveSync. You can play 15 games using the full featured trial version before you will have to register, for unlimited spells of fun.

Gameplay: Word Monaco is similar to a traditional game of solitaire. The cards are dealt out of the deck into seven increasingly sized piles (so that the first has one card and the last has seven). Like solitaire, the top card of each pile is turned face up, while the rest of the cards remain hidden. Now, here comes the twist. Instead of numbers and suits, these cards each have letters. Create words by moving letters from column to column. Use all of the letters to form words and you win.

Variations: There are three variations of Word Monaco. Gameplay is the same in each variation, however, the ultimate goal of each variation is slightly modified, enhancing the excitement of gameplay as you switch from one variation to the next. The three available variations, which are all based on a vacation theme, include:

Larvotto Beach — where you must simply use all of the letters to form words

Royalty Cafe — where, in addition to using all of the letters to form words, you are also given three special cards (pink borders). The special cards must all be used in the same word, or each in different words. Each word must also contain three or more letters.

Train Station — where, in addition to using all of the letters to form words, you are also given four special cards (pink borders). The special cards must all be used in the same word, or each in different words. Each word must also contain four or more letters.

Frankly, once you start looking at how the variations can significantly affect the outcome of the game, it becomes apparent that there are countless variations of the basic game which could be made. This is a game which just screams for expansion packs, with different themes and variations of cards. While the available variations already make Word Monaco an incredibly addictive game, expansion packs would significantly enhance the appeal of this game by providing a wide variety of themes and gameplay variations.

Difficulty Levels: In addition to the three variations, there are also three different skill levels in each. The skill levels determine the universe of letters available in each deck.
Easy includes two jokers in each deck which can be substituted for any letter card.
Medium includes every letter in the alphabet except J, Q, V, X, and Z, and no jokers.
Hard includes every letter in the alphabet,and no jokers.

Cheating: There are two ways in which you can discover what cards are hidden under the dealt piles in each game. First, in the game settings menu, you can select the "Peek At Face-Down Cards." Once checked, you need only tap any face down card to be shown what letter is hidden there.

Likewise, at any time during the game, you can also select the "Show Deck" option from the Game Menu. This will provide you with a list (in alphabetical order) of all of the cards showing and all of the cards which are still hidden. Unlike "Peek At Face-Down Cards", this option will not show you the placement of each letter, but it will give you an overview of the letters at your disposal. Both options can be very useful for learning the rules and strategies of the game, as well as planning ahead during any of the variations of the game.

Statistics: One of my favorite features found in games such as Word Monaco are the statistics. Essentially, you are your only opponent, so it is nice to know how you stack up against yourself. Word Monaco does a nice job with this. It keeps track of how many games you have won in each variation versus how many games you have played. It also tells you your winning percentage and the fewest number of moves you have used to win each variation. Additionally, there is also a running list maintained of your best words from all of the games you have won.

Graphics: The graphics in Word Monaco are well drawn in high resolution. Each variation has a different background which evokes the mood of the location on which the variation is based. I found these backgrounds, while not overly complicated, really helped establish the mood of each of the variations, and significantly added to my enjoyment of the game. Again, however, this feature clearly lends itself to unlimited variations, backgrounds, and themes. I would love to see a variety of different themed expansion packs. For example, pictures of different cars, sports, or even mobile devices could be integrated to makeup the background images.

Help: While Word Monaco is an extremely exciting game, it is also a unique concept which combines traditional solitaire and…well, like I said…spelling. New games like this can be tricky to learn, and that is why Help is never more than a click away in Word Monaco. Turn on the in-game tips and text boxes will pop up on the screen to help guide you through the next moves and explain what you are seeing on the board. Once you have mastered the basics, you can still seek help by simply tapping the Help Menu and search the extensive help library, seek strategy tips, or review the goals of each variation of the game. These options certainly went a long way toward helping me familiarize myself with the basic gameplay and strategy.

Conclusion: If you enjoy solitaire, card games, word puzzles, or any combination of these three, then Word Monaco has found a new home on your device. Although gameplay sounds easy, it quickly becomes apparent that creating words out of the available letters can be much more difficult than it looks (just wait until you get a deck with all vowels and a "v".) The variations and backgrounds make the game extremely enjoyable. Couple that with the three difficulty settings, and this game is ideal for players of any skill level. Those learning to spell will enjoy the freedom this game adds to the educational process, while advanced spellers can try to increase their vocabulary by creating words using as many letters as possible. This is an original and fantastic variation on an old classic card game, which will definitely be joining me for my next vacation.

Vital Statistics:
Name: Word Monaco
Version: 1.01
Platform: WM 2003 SE
Also Available: WM5,
Developer: Smart Box Design (distributed by Astraware)
Available From: Astraware
Smart Box
JAMM Store
Price: $14.95

Technorati Tags: Smart Box - Astraware - Word - Monaco - Just - Another - Mobile - Monday

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Word Monaco Solitaire Contest Winners

I loved all the great feedback at the forum. My favorite quote was from, Marie, who said "This game, like all the Smart Box games, is great! My house may never be clean again."

Congratulations to all the winners from the February 5 Word Monaco Solitaire Contest.

The fastest five posters were:
co2stay, dcroennau, qc832, LKeeton, and bearboy.

The five random winners are:
Marie, contestr, usuallyfrazzled, bkauntie64, and Barksfan.

Click here to go to the forum.

4 Years and Counting! Special Anniversary Sale

As of February 28, 2007, Smart Box Design is celebrating four years of successfully selling our games to players around the world. Come celebrate with us. Over the next five days, each game developed by us will take its turn going on sale for a whopping 40% off (10% for each year of business), starting with Farkle Dice today. Hurry, as each game will only be on sale for 24 hours or less.

Click here to see today's sale.

Win a Palm or Pocket PC Game with this Word Challenge

If you enjoy a good challenge, why not take a gander at this screen shot of WordPop and see if you can find the longest word possible? Points don’t matter; just sheer length. But you must follow the WordPop rule that each letter must be adjacent to the next, such as ANT. The longest word submitted wins, plus three random entries of the next longest word. Each winner will receive a free copy of WordPop, Word Watch, Word Monaco, Triples or Farkle Dice for the Palm OS or the Pocket PC.

Go to our forum (the link is below) and post your unique words. Make sure to register so we have your name and e-mail address on record. In the case of a tie, the earliest submission will win. Contest ends on 11:59 PM, March 9, 2007. Winners will be announced in the next Newsletter and / or by e-mail.

Click here to go to the forum.

My Utopian Palm World is Just Around the Corner

This isn't about how I use my Palm but how I wish I could use my Palm. I wish everyone had a Palm. If they did then whenever I met someone we could quickly and easily exchange business cards. Then if we were setting up a meeting, I could then easily send them the date, time and location. And if HoliDates was installed on every Palm, then we would easily know what days not to meet or to have items due.

If every store I visited in Bellingham or Fairhaven had a Palm I could quickly add them to my contact list and if they included their hours to the notes section then I would never arrive at the store when it was closed. If my favorite Pizza joint and Thai food restaurant had a Palm I could also get their menu so ordering food for delivery would be easy. Plus I could mark what I love at the restaurant so I could order it again and again.

If all my relatives had a Palm I would do a much better job at remembering their birthday’s assuming it was in their contact info.

I've only touched upon a small part of what a Palm can do, contacts and schedules, but it is so powerful. I do the above things every day but not as widespread as I wish but with more Treo's selling daily, my Utopian Palm world is just around the corner.

NPR Auction Closes in 3 Days 2/22/07

You can find Smart Box Design's games and a host of other great items for a great price at this local Northwest auction. Most of the items can be used by anyone anywhere. The vacation packages are a wonderful deal.

Here is the official email from NPR:

It will all come to a close at 7:00 p.m. this Thursday, February 22. Proceeds from the auction will help support the programming that you and all our listeners, have come to rely upon.

This is the last call to browse and place a bid. If you decide you want something or will not be available at the conclusion, you might consider using our new feature – Instant Purchase. Selecting that will insure you win that auction item. Several auction participants have already taken advantage of this option.

We hope you enjoy the auction and THANK YOU to everyone who has placed a bid. We also thank all our donors and we hope you will too when you get a chance.

Go to the Northwest Public Radio web site at www.nwpr.org and click on the auction icon to donate. Or you can click on the icon below.

Contact me for any questions you may have concerning auction. My email address is nwpr.auction@wsu.edu or phone – 1-800-842-8991. Thank you.


Sincerely,

Tom
Thomas Hungate
Auction Coordinator
PO Box 642530
Pullman, WA 99164-2530
www.nwpr.org

Painting My House and my Palm Zire 72

I recently moved into a new house in Bellingham, WA and have started to paint the bedrooms. Being an organized guy I brought up my painting supplies and laid them out on the floor. I then made a list in Note Pad on what supplies I needed to buy. Often when I am making quick, on the spot and temporary list, I find the freehand use of the Note Pad faster and easier than writing a Memo. Once I had the list done I took a picture of what I had. I do this because I will often be in the store and see an item and say “Hmm, do I have one of those?” and the picture will remind me of what I currently have.

When I get to the store I’ll then open my list and as I add the item to the cart I will draw a line through it. When all the items are crossed off, I’m ready to pay. The nice part of having the Note Pad open during this process is that I can jot down something that I might want to buy but not sure until I get home to see if there is a real need or not. If not, I cross it off, if yes, I leave it on the list for my next visit to the paint store. And there is always another visit to the paint store.

Now if I could only get my Zire to actually paint the room.

Solitaire Central Reviews Word Monaco for Windows XP / 98

Solitaire Central is a niche web site that concentrates on solitaire games of all types. I noticed this review they recently posted. Please visit their site to see all the interesting solitaire games they have. However, my game, Word Monaco, is a must see. :) Here is their review.


Word Monaco is a unique blend of a word game and a card game, where the playing cards contain letters rather than numbers and royalty, and your goal is to spell words rather than to build according to suit or value.

At the beginning of each round, the cards are layed out as in Klondike solitaire. You must use as many cards as possible to spell as many words as possible within the tableau (there are no foundations). Each letter card is worth a certain number of points, based on how often it is used in common words (this is similar to the way that Scrabble and many other word games work). Words are spelled within individual tableau piles, and letters or words may be moved between piles to build new words, or to add on to or modify existing words. You can score bonus points by building long words, using all the letters, or using various power-ups that you earn during play.

It’s an interesting concept, and it works reasonably well. There’s no time limit, so the game is really more of a puzzle than an arcade game (which is not a bad thing). As in most word games, success does depend a good deal on your ability to spell, and to recognize combinations of letters that form the building blocks for words. With a word list of over 50,000+ words, the game does recognize a great many possible words.

The game uses only the one layout, as far as I can tell. With so many layouts available in solitaire, I don’t know why the developers limited themselves to just one. But that’s a minor complaint. The bottom line is this is a fun game. It’s certainly not your everyday solitaire game, but if you enjoy word games, I think you’ll find this to be a fun way to spend your time and exercise your mind.

Download Word Monaco (7.81MB)

Palms are Great for Meetings

This evening I met with Darrin in Lynden. Darrin is a writer who will be helping me with various editing and writing tasks. For the meeting I printed out a hard copy of his contract, directions on how to access the FTP site, an outline of work that I needed help on, and ideas that I had for my next newsletter. I only needed to print out one copy as I had copies of all the documents on my Palm. This was very convenient and demonstrated the power of the Palm. We quickly worked up some additional ideas of which I jotted down on my Palm and then copied back to my PC. After the meeting I met my wife for dinner. If I would have brought my laptop to the meeting I would of have worried about leaving it in the car during dinner plus the laptop would have been overkill for what I needed for this quick ½ hour meeting.

Win a Copy of Word Monaco Solitaire - It's Easy

Here's how. Try any version of Word Monaco (Palm, Pocket PC, Treo, Windows XP / 98) and then go to our forum (the link is below) and post your opinion about the game. The first 5 posts will get a copy of the game - no charge - and 5 more winners will be randomly picked. Make sure to register so we have your name and email address on record. Contest ends February 11, 2007 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

Click here to go to the forum.

Break Time! Play a cool game in the warm Mediterranean

The Pocket PC version of Word Monaco has arrived to take you away. It’s our new and unique twist on the game of Solitaire by using letters instead of numbers. Whether you have a PC, Palm, Treo 650/680/700/750, or any other Windows Mobile device, we have the game for you.

In referring to word games, Allen Gall of Pocket PC Magazine says, “Word Monaco Solitaire is the most interesting title in this category that I’ve seen...”

With nine difficulty levels, settle in for whatever type of challenge you’re in the mood for. Mac users… stay tuned!

- Click here to try the Windows Mobile / Pocket PC demo
- Click here to try the Palm / Treo demo
- Click here to try the Windows XP / 98 demo

Using my PDA to Navigate Bellingham, WA

I recently moved my residence and business to beautiful Bellingham, WA. Although it is a small town, approximately 100,000 residence in the general area, learning my way around can be time consuming. I decided to put my Palm and my Pocket PC into full use by taking full advantage of the contacts feature.

When I visit a new store downtown or in the Fairhaven district I add the store to my phone book. If I happened to have a nice conversation with the owner or employee I will add their name to the notes section. This has been a great help as on more than one occasion as I have asked for that person by name. For example at the print shop I know ask for a specific employee to do all my business cards and other stationary.

To remind me what the store looks like I will take a picture with my PDA and add it to the contact list. This might seem silly, but if you only visit the store occasionally having a reminder what it looks like is very helpful, especially in the downtown corridor.

Part of the fun of living someplace new is discovering short cuts. Whenever I find a new or interesting way to get to a store I will open the notes section and jot down the directions. This is also very helpful if I have not visited the store in a few weeks. It answers the questions, "hmm, do I take state street or 11th?"

I highly recommend all users when using the contacts list to take advantage of the note section and take a picture to remind you of the location.

Our Games at Northwest Public Radio Online Auction

I listen to NPR on a regular basis, especially when I am making the drive from Bellingham, WA to Seattle, WA. Every few months NPR will have a fundraiser (OK, not ever few months but it sure feels like it). This year the local station in the Pacific Northwest is having an online fundraiser. I see this as a great opportunity to give back to NPR so I have donated all five games that Smart Box Design has developed. They are WordPop, Word Monaco Solitaire, Word Watch, Triples, and Farkle Dice. Bidding on the games is from February 16 - 22, 2007. You can go here to get involved and donate or make a bid.

What is the best PDA game ever made?

The editor of Palm 24/7 selects his two favorite games and WordPop is one of them. We are of course thrilled that he would choose WordPop. For all your Mobile news make sure to drop by daily to Palm 24/7.

Here is their commentary:

For me there are two that stand out as being perfectly suited to the PDA / Smart Phone format but it would be good to know which games you have played the most and keep coming back to time and time again.

Igzo The Dolphin is just so addictive and probably the game I have played most on any type of device or games console. It's only 13k and free so there's no excuse not to try it.

WordPop! has had me turning in circles for the past few months- I am not very good at it but that does not stop me trying over and over and over again to beat my high score. It has been responsible for more late nights than anything else lately.

Treo 680 Camera / Memory Patch - This is a must have.

Palm is now distributing a new patch for the camera. There was a bug where the camera would not shut down correctly after being uses which resulted in a battery drain.

You can get the patch from here:
http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/treo/680cameraupdate.html

Palm Addicts is reporting significant gains in battery usage after using the patch. Several users are now saying that they can use the phone all day without a recharge.

Great job Palm for releasing a patch so quickly.

Word Monaco Solitaire; Reviewed by Allen Gall of Pocket PC Magazine

I am getting a bit weary of reviewing word games (I love them, but there’s just not that many new things you can do with them at this point), but Word Monaco Solitaire is the most interesting title in this category that I've seen all year. The game is based on the idea of playing a word game based on solitaire at some sort of resort in Monaco (I could probably find better things to do in Monaco than play card games, but that’s the basic idea and it does give the game a nice atmosphere).

Here’s how it works: The game pieces consist of letters that are arranged in columns just like they are in solitaire, and the idea is to move them around until every letter forms a word. That’s the essence of the game, although three rule variations are offered along with nine difficulty levels.

The basic concept works well enough. Even though the number of words in each level is limited, getting all the letters into just the right spot provides a good challenge. Had the game been thrown together with limited sound and mediocre graphics, it would likely be overlooked as just another shoddy word game. What makes WM an exceptional title are not only the terrific graphics, music, but the overall feel of the game. While the graphics and sound evoke the famous French resort country and contributes to the game’s atmosphere as a casual game, WM provides plenty of feedback to the player. Once you successfully create a word, a green gem appears over that column. Dragging over a letter or group of letters results in a pleasant sound effect as well as the last “card” in the column to smoothly flip over.

Word Monaco Solitaire is not quite the same as taking a vacation, but its design and implementation meet all the requirements of a great casual game. Its visually stimulating, has great audio, has challenging but laid back game play, is very engaging, and is very easy to play. While it relies more on eye and ear candy more than other word games, it’s still good fun.

Title:

Word Monaco Solitaire
Developer: Smart Box Design
Genre: Word Games
Demo: Y
Platform: Pocket PC 2003+
Price: $14.95
Rating (of 4): 3.4

Review: Farkle. A Smart Game From a Smart Box for that Long Commute Home.

Review: Farkle. A Smart Game From a Smart Box for that Long Commute Home.

January 18th, 2007 by dgoldring

When I read that Farkle was the perfect game for a long commute, I knew I would have to review it. As some of you know, I ride the train for over an hour each way just to get to work. So, anything that is labeled perfect for a long commute, I am going to check out with interest.

Installation and Registration: Just download the Farkle setup file and install it on your Pocket PC via ActiveSync. Once installed, you can play 15 complete games before the trial period expires. Let me tell you, 15 games was more than enough time for me to explore all of the options and realize that this is a great game.

Gameplay: Simply put, Farkle is a game of chance and dice…probably not in that order. It is a combination of Yahtzee’s strategy and Craps’ chance. The object of the game is to score as many points as possible during your turn and reach 10,000 before any of your opponents (Farkle can be played by two or more players, however, 3-5 seems to be ideal).

Your turn begins by throwing six dice. Once they land, you must determine which ones earned you points. Point earning dice are ones, fives, three-of-a-kind, and any roll that combines all six dice together. Once you have identified your points scoring dice, you must decide whether to keep going or pass. If you pass, then your turn ends, and you tally your score from that round into your total score. If you want to keep going, then you roll the remaining non-scoring dice in an attempt to earn more points.

Be careful, though. If at any time, you roll a FARKLE (a roll in which you earn no points) then you lose all of the points earned that round. If you score three Farkles in three consecutive rounds, then you will lose 1000 points from your total score.

Characters: One of the great things about this game are the characters. Although they are not graphically represented (and that would be a nice feature in future versions), they each have a different style of play which is reflected in the way they play the game. When you begin a new game, by default, you will be playing against Nervous Nell (a very conservative player who fears Farkles) and Steady Stan (who gobbles up scoring dice like Pac-Man devours dots). Once you learn the basics, you can play against other characters by using the Game Setup Menu. There are a total of six characters, and you can play against any combination of them. Try to work your way up to Jammin’ Jen, the most skilled of the computer characters.

Head-to-Head: In addition to playing against the computer characters, you can also choose to play against up to five friends. Unfortunately, Farkle does not allow you to connect two Pocket PC’s together or play over a Wi-Fi/Internet connection. In order to play against your friends, you will all have to share the same unit and pass it between you. That did not present a large problem for me, however, as I typically do not play against other people.

Graphics: For a simple dice game, Farkle really impressed me with its graphics. The graphics in this game are a perfect example of the old idiom, no matter what you do, do it well. Let’s face it. This is not an adventure game, relying on the graphics to draw you in or tell a story. This is a game of chance. It is a game of rolling dice. I have seen plenty of dice games which are just the dice and a score card. That would have been easy.

Instead, Smart Box had to take the more difficult road. They included a wooden game board with a fine grain and green velvet playing surface. They even included animated dice which can be colored a translucent red or smooth white.

They did not have to do these things, add these extra touches to the graphics, but they did. And that is what makes Farkle more than just a simple dice game.

Audio: This game has some pretty realistic sound effects, such as the sound of the dice bouncing off the walls of the playing surface. The problem for me though, since I ride the train, the people around me do not care to listen to the dice bounce off the playing surface. Unfortunately, the audio in Farkle is not linked to the master audio on the Pocket PC, so it kept overriding me when I would hit mute. This can get frustrating. Thankfully, I discussed this issue with Smart Box, and they assured me that they have already fixed it, and will include better audio control in the next version which should be coming soon (that will be a free upgrade for registered users).

Saving: Since I play games on the train a lot of the time, nothing is more important to me than being able to stop the game when the train reaches my stop. I tend to get very frustrated at games which do not allow me to pick up where I left off. This is another feature that makes Farkle an ideal game for commuting, or just waiting in line at the DMV. When you need to turn it off, just close the program. The next time you open it, the game will automatically pick up exactly where you left off. No need to even remind it to save the game. It already knows what to do. Of course, if you want to change any of the game settings, then your saved game will be lost so you can start a new game with the new settings.

Customization: As I mentioned, you can pick from up to six computerized players to challenge. You can also decide which "house rules" will be followed. Some people like to play with a break-in score (you must reach a minimum score in order to earn any points in that round.) Others don’t like this rule. You can also decide the upper limit of the game. If you think playing 10,000 takes too long, set the game to end at 5,000 instead. These little options allow you to customize Farkle to your personal style of play.

Strategy and Tips: One of the things I loved about Farkle is that it teaches you the game as you go along. The rules are not that difficult. Keep rolling the dice until you stop or earn no points. It is pretty basic, but there can be some complicated strategic decisions. If I roll two scoring dice, do I keep them both or keep only one and hope for a better score with a new roll?
As you progress through the game, various strategy tips will appear which teach you how to look at your roll from all angles and fully immerse you in the game. I really appreciated these tips the first time I played the game, but once you have heard them, they quickly become unnecessary background noise. Fortunately, you can choose to turn them off in the preferences menu.

Conclusion: This is definitely my kind of game. It is quick and easy to learn, but takes some concentration to master the strategy. You can also stop the game at any time and pick up right where you left off. If this were all it offered, Farkle would be a mainstay in my stable of games. Add in the smoothly drawn graphics, six different player characters (which effectively means a variety of skill levels) and various customization options, and Farkle is a must play for anyone who enjoys a simple game of chance or, a really long train ride.

Vital Statistics:
Name: Farkle
Version: 1.0.1
Platform: WM 2003 SE
Also Available: WM5, Palm OS
Developer: Smart Box Design
Price: $14.95