inconsequential ruminations

I have played a few Free Computer Versions of Board and Card Games with Artificial Intelligence Computer Opponents recently.

I had most fun with Zendo-san. I bought Zendo a while ago, but my gang ran away screaming, so it was great to finally play, even if only against AI. It’s a complicated game, so read the rules first. It runs well on Linux under Wine, but a few random glitches occasionally came up.

I also tried:

• Puerto Rico
  The PR Evolver Excel spreadsheet is amazing. It even makes me regret migrating to Linux.
• Amazons
  http://jenslieberum.de/amazong/amazong.html
  I liked this a lot over PBW, so it was no suprise it was good against the computer too.
• Quoridor
  http://xoridor.sf.net
  I enjoy blocking games like this and Amazons. Maybe it is something to do with being a natural defender at team ball sports?
• Mancala
  http://www.rocketsnail.com/mancala/game.htm
  A lot more interesting than I thought it would be.
• Pogo
  http://www.nivozero.com/
  The implementation was good, but the game itself is too close to Nine Men’s Morris.
• Gobblet
  http://www.boardspace.net/
  Too much like Pogo.