Family Computing, v4(11)

~10 minute read

Nov 1986

Board Games That Think

Move over Monopoly! Make room for games that are always ready to play

Shay Addams

Monopoly and Risk, checkers and chess — these were the kinds of board games we played back when the smallest computer filled a large room. The main drawback was that you had to round up at least one more player, but too often everyone else wanted to watch cartoons instead. Today's "smart" board games solve that dilemma by including a computer-controlled foe that is always ready to play. The software also does the dirty work of refereeing and acting as banker.

LIKE MONOPOLY ON ANOTHER PLANET

My favorite computer board game is M.U.L.E., which is like Monopoly on an alien planet. The board consists of squares that are plots of land. Instead of building houses and hotels, however, up to four players compete to stake out and develop their plots by raising crops, digging for minerals, and constructing energy plants. With a joystick, you move mechanical M.U.L.E.'s around your plots and control other aspects of the game. The players are represented by aliens like Bonzoids or Mechtrons, which have varying capabilities. In a solo game, you determine the enemy's "intelligence" by choosing weak or strong computer opponents. Strategy is vital, but there's a lot of animation as the Bonzoids and other colonists engage in a tug-of-war with other players to bargain for prices when buying or selling goods. Other events are also animated, and the sound effects are lively. The player with the greatest net worth when the ship returns, wins. In addition to the standard game, a tournament version is included.

THE FOIBLES OF "FOOBLES"

Fooblitzky looks like a traditional Monopoly-style board game, offering shops to visit as you travel the board trying to buy four particular items before anyone else does. The shops are connected by other squares that form the city's blocks, which you traverse by spinning the wheel of fortune for a number and moving your token that many steps in any direction. You may meet the "Chance Man" (remember Monopoly's Chance cards?) or get to bump another player by landing on his or her square.

But the point of the game is decidedly different, as you rely on logical deduction to figure out which four items are the correct ones to buy. At the start of a game, each player secretly chooses one item — such as light bulbs, tennis rackets, and teddy bears — from 18 items displayed on-screen (if there are fewer than four players, each player picks one item and the computer chooses the rest). As the manual puts it, "These four secretly chosen items become the four correct items that you must obtain and bring to a check point in order to win the game." The value of each item is measured in "Foobles." Numerous scenes and encounters are vividly portrayed and sometimes animated. To keep track of correct items, each player uses a plastic board that shows the town and has room for notes that can be wiped clean with a damp cloth or sponge. It will take longer than usual for most people to figure out Fooblitzky, since the concept is so different (though the board looks so familiar): in some ways, the game reminds me of an algebraic equation — certain factors are known and others are unknown. That's why I recommend it to anyone looking for something truly cerebral and unusual. The detailed manual suggests seven or eight variations and rule changes that give the game extra replay value. Up to four can play, but this is the only game listed here that cannot be played solo.

IF I RULED THE WORLD...

In Diplomacy, Colonial Conquest and Lords of Conquest, the on-screen board portrays a map of the world, or a part of it, and your goal is to dominate the world. You attain this with cunning, management of resources, and battle — although the latter is far less important than in typical computer war games. (See the box. "War Games: Board Games With Guts.") Negotiation and deception take place among human players, as you hash out nonaggression pacts or form alliances to smash an other player's country. Diplomacy is based on a genuine board game with an on-screen map that depicts Europe on the eve of World War I, and up to seven gamers control the major powers. (The computer plays all empty positions.) As the name suggests, negotiation is the key weapon in the arsenal of the successful "Dippy" player.

The conflict in Colonial Conquest unfolds on a bigger battlefield; 125 nations span the globe displayed on a scrolling map. The game offers three scenarios staged under different conditions from 1880 to 1914. Battle between armies and navies is more crucial here than in Diplomacy, but strategy and secret treaties remain the order of the day. Lords of Conquest resembles the board game Risk, as you struggle to develop your nation's resources (gold, timber, coal, etc.) while plotting where to send your troops. Negotiations are instrumental, but players can also trade goods. For those preferring a historical backdrop. Diplomacy or Colonial Conquest is recommended. Other wise, Lords of Conquest — with its superior graphics, 20 maps, the option of playing on a randomly generated map, and a "map construction kit" that lets you create your own scenarios — is the game of choice.

WILL THE REAL COMPUTER CHESS GAME PLEASE STAND UP?

Chess, the original board game, has adapted well to the era of computer entertainment. For years, Sargon III (and its predecessors Sargons I and II) reigned as champion of the rank and file, offering a formidable opponent for solo games. Like most computer chess games, it will referee two-player matches and also includes a disk of grandmaster games that can be replayed on-screen and studied move-by-move. The latest challenge to Sargon's supremacy comes from new titles like Chessmaster 2000 and Psion Chess. In these two games, you can choose a more realistic, almost three-dimensional, view of the board and pieces in addition to the usual overhead perspective. Psion also boasts of an algorithm that enables it to "think" faster and perhaps more cunningly, while Chessmaster has a "coffeehouse mode" in which it makes more unpredictable moves. Its handy tutorial mode highlights the squares to which any piece can move. Chess 7.0, while not new, goes even further by allowing you to see which pieces are attacking or defending a selected square or piece. How About a Nice Game of Chess is a full-blown tutorial program, and thus is excellent for beginners. (I've played them all at the easiest level, and Chess 7.0 was the only one I beat the first time out.)

On the other hand, Archon is like playing chess in the "Twilight Zone." The playing field looks like a typical chess board with pieces that look like trolls, dragons, and unicorns instead of pawns and rooks. Some wield magical powers as well as swords and other weapons. When you move a piece onto a square held by the enemy, the board vanishes and is replaced by a close-up of the battle as you fight it out arcade-style. Then the board reappears and the next strategy round of moves is conducted. Animation and sound effects are top-notch. Strategy is vital, but you won't stand a chance here unless you've got a fast finger on the joystick and learn to cast magic spells effectively. The sequel, Archon II: Adept, introduces new creatures, spells, and battlegrounds that are woven into an oblong chess board that includes other unique features.

A game of chess can take forever, so for faster fun you might consider Odin. Based on Othello, whose roots go back to the 18th century, this battle for territory is pitched on a similar 8 x 8-square board. Players can capture an opponent's piece by catching it between two of his; the pattern looks like the opposite of the successful tic-tac-toe tactic of placing an X between two O's. When no one can move any longer, the player with the most pieces is declared the winner. The best feature of these games, including chess, is the one that lets you take back your last move. You know, the move right before the computer captured your queen — and then the one before that, all the way back to the beginning of the game.

That isn't possible in Pensate. an inventive game that can be completed in a few minutes. On a standard chess board, you merely have to move your sole piece from the bottom to the top. The computer moves several pieces and can capture yours if it moves to the same square. It's a tricky game because there are different types of pieces, each with bizarre moves: Some pieces always move one square down and two squares to the right; others always move diagonally. You get to select where your pieces move, and the computer's moves are determined by the skill level you choose. Unlike the previous games, Pensate can only be played solo.

So whether you're looking for a trip to another planet or just a friendly game of chess, there's an 'intelligent" computer board game for you, one that won't say "I'd rather watch TV!" when you feel like playing.

Editor's Note: Turn to the Entertainment Department on page 28 for tips and tricks to help you in playing some of the games mentioned above, including Archon and Colonial Conquest.

SHAY ADDAMS is the editor of "Questbusters," a newsletter for adventure fans. In the April issue of FAMILY COMPUTING, he wrote "From Towers to Dungeons: The Universe of Fantasy Role-Playing Software."

This article appeared in
Family Computing
Nov 1986

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