Dominoes

Crash

Producer: Phipps Assoc, 16K £4.95 Phipps' version is somewhat better as far as playing goes, with the familiar right angle shapes making life easy, adding up the adjoining ends to make multiples of five or three. 72 points to win.

Read it at Crash - The Online Edition

Personal Computer Games

Graphics 5/10

Sound 5/10

Ease Of Use 6/10

Originality 3/10

Lasting Interest 4/10

Overall 5/10

Steve Mann 5/10

MACHINE: Spectrum 16/48K JOYSTICK: No CATEGORY: Pub Favourite SUPPLIER: Phipps Associates PRICE: £4.95 This cassette contains two versions of the old pub game - the 48K side allows the computer to play a longer game. Player and computer are each dealt eight dominoes, and simply take it in turns to lay one down, joining up with any tiles that have already been played. The colours are a bit garish - all flashing yellows and blacks on a green background - and space restrictions mean that you don't get to see all the dominoes, simply the ones at each end of the line with the rest depicted as a magenta rectangle. The score is calculated by adding together the values of the dominoes at each end, then dividing by five and three. Thus playing a five when there is a four at the other end will score three (nine divided by three). Totals that are not divisible by either five or three do not score at all, and 72 is taken as the winning total, which means that several complete sets must be played. Strategy consists of trying to play all your dominoes while restricting your opponent to low scoring pieces. It must be said that the computer does not play a very good game - in fact, I could lose to it only by deliberately playing low-scoring pieces - but, even so, it's fun to play and a change from the usual arcade games.

Crash

Producer: Phipps Assoc, 16K £4.95 Phipps' version is somewhat better as far as playing goes, with the familiar right angle shapes making life easy, adding up the adjoining ends to make multiples of five or three. 72 points to win.