Margarine is oleo; poetic twilights are e'ens. . . . If you know these off the top of your head, there's a good chance you enjoy a good Crossword from time to time. Those who love to kick back with word puzzles and games will enjoy this collection that combines classics—including Crosswords and Word Searches—with a number of less familiar as well as all-new games. Hoyle Word Games 2001 sports an interface that is simply excellent, and it allows players to customize games almost endlessly. Word game fans simply can't go wrong with this program.
One of the program's many handy features is the ability to print Crosswords and Word Search puzzles in progress, so if you haven't quite finished a game, you can simply print it up and take it with you. While you're at it, it's easy to print out a solution sheet as well. The program installs to the hard drive, after which no CD-ROM is required (though most animations, music, and character speech will not be available). This is an important feature for a program such as this one—we've found that people are considerably more likely to return to leisure games when they don't need to fumble for a CD to put into the drive.
Players will find nine word games altogether, most of which are very customizable. In addition to a nice variety of styles, the learning curves for the featured games vary. Many games, such as Hangman, are easy to get into either because of their familiarity or their simple rules. However, DoubleCross, an original and competitive game, requires a larger investment of time to learn its more complex rules and strategies.
In Anagrams, players find words—generally smaller ones—from the given letters, against a timer. Crosswords include more than 500 puzzles of different sizes with difficulty levels ranging from easy to hard. The puzzles are labeled one per day of the year (for example, June 8), and numbered bonus puzzles make up the remainder.
Enigma often is called Crostic in word puzzle magazines. Here, players attempt to crack a code in order to uncover a quote. Word Yacht plays much like a cross between Word Yahtzee and Boggle in which lettered dice are rolled and players must combine them in such a way as to rack up big points on their scorecard. Speedy Racer is rather short-lived and not hugely challenging for players who are already decent typists, but it can certainly challenge children with budding typing skillsthis game is the only one that seems a little out of place as it is a game of reflexes rather than word skills. An all-new word game in this 2001 update is a competitive and easy-to-learn word-tile game called Wordox.
Word puzzles often are enjoyed as solitary pastimes, but adding competitors to the mix—whether they are computer opponents or human ones—adds a wonderful twist to many of the featured games. Even Crosswords can be played against an opponent! Players can opt to enjoy games with others via the Internet or side by side. They can experience the fun of competition in the absence of human opponents, and Hoyle Word Games 2001 features computer players with a whole lot of character—from a parrot pirate and a high school chemistry teacher to a sarcastic alien! Unlike with human opponents, players can adjust the level of chattiness of these players or turn off their speech entirely. They can also turn off animation and/or sound effects, change musical selections, or opt for no background music altogether.
Also included with the program are a number of fully playable demo games that are not to be missed—three from Hoyle Board Games (Backgammon, Zen Bones, Placer Racer), three from Hoyle Card Games (Cribbage, Solitaire, Gin Rummy), and four Casino games. These are excellent bonuses to an already fantastic collection of games.
