I reviewed some demo OSX products from Don's Games/Home Software and the World Book encyclopedia at the 3/27/04 meeting of the Huntsville Macintosh User's Group (HMUG).
The games included on the demo disk from Don's Games were OSX Free Cell, Tank Fighters and Video Poker. The other program was Calorie Tracker.
I had not been familiar with Free Cell but found it to be engaging. The one thing I was not prepared for is the amount of thinking the game required. It is not a “no brainer” as many of the other solitaire games that are more dependent on luck. I enjoyed the game, concentrating on it really made a break in the day. And the description “addictive” is correct!
Tank Fighters and OSX had a problem. All I got was error messages about a Cocoa problem. (I'm using OSX 10.3.3.) I tried rebooting, switching to my “trouble-shooting” user, nothing worked. The error was reported to Apple.
Video Poker did not meet my expectations. It was described as being like casino style games, which if it is, I will never play. There were odds/payouts for various hands but nothing for a single pair. Hey, a pair of aces will win some hands. But the biggest problem was betting. In the poker I play, there may be an ante for the pot, but you don't have to bet until you see your hand. Not so with this game, you choose your bets before the deal. This puts it into a dumb luck game, nothing like real poker.
The Calorie Tracker seemed to work well and was capable of updates for different foods. For example I didn't find any listing for “sausage” (as in sausage and biscuit) but was able to add it for future use. The total tracking was good, including exercise, leaving no excuse for not keeping your weight down.
The website is www.donsgames.com (and www.dogfightcity.com for classic). The only one I thought was worthwhile was the Calorie Tracker.
