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Fun and Games

  ACTION / ARCADE

ARMAGETRON 0.2.5.2:
An excellent, free Tron clone in 3D.  Just like the movie, you ride a "light cycle" in a large enclosed arena battling other riders.  The light cycle runs only in straight lines, turns only at 90 degrees, can't stop and leaves an impenetrable wall of light in its wake.  When any  light cycle collides with one of these trails, BOOOM... it's vapourised.  The game has an interesting addition to the movie  - If you can skillfully place your light cycle to run closely alongside another  trail, it will accelerate, reaching dizzying speeds.  The Linux source code version is 1,074KB in tar.gz format and requires these libraries and the GNU C++ compiler.  The Windows version is 1,242KB and is a self installing executable.  Find out more from: http://armagetron.sourceforge.net/

ARMAGETRON 0.2.5.2:
Windows version of the above.

DEMONSTAR:
This is the ultimate vertical scrolling shooter from the same stable that brought us the classics Zaxxon and Raptor.  Beautiful 3D rendered graphics, explosive sound effects and a thumping soundtrack, Demonstar supports single and multiplayer modes and Force Feedback joysticks.  Works on Windows 95/98, NT (with SP4 or higher) and 2000.  Needs a minimum of a Pentium 133, Direct X 6.1, 16MB RAM and 20MB HDD space.  Get the shareware version by clicking the picture alongside (V3.0 - 4254KB).  Buy the full version here http://www.mking.com and check out http://www.stratosgroup.com who have an excellent free Demonstar Mini Guide.  Space Invaders will never be the same again!

  STRATEGY

CLICKOMANIA:
A rather neat variation on Tetris.  You start out with a full screen of randomly coloured blocks.  Click on adjacent blocks of the same colour and they disappear.  Gravity then causes the remaining blocks to fall towards the bottom of the screen, redistributing the pattern.  Your aim is to completely clear the screen. Strangely addictive and much harder than it first appears. Version 4.2.1 supports English, French and German languages, seems to run on any Windows 32 bit platform, is small enough to fit on a floppy disk and is now freeware.  Click the picture to download  (444KB) or find out more here http://www.clickomania.ch

CLICKOMANIA NEXT GENERATION:
A new version of the ever-popular game of logic which you can download from the author's website (just click on the picture alongside - 940KB)

TETRIS:
Oh so cool DHTML version of the classic arcade game, which needs no introduction!  Play on-line right now by clicking here >> Play Tetris!

  CHESS

If you fancy something more traditional, why not try these great chess programs?  There are hundreds of chess programs around, some free, some commercial (a few being very expensive.)  Some are good whilst others are downright awful and some are so complicated to set up and get working that, by the time you've done so, you don't want to play anymore!  Below is a selection of my favourite free chess programs.  All of them play a good game (good enough to beat the pants off me anyway!) and are relatively easy to set up in that they either have their own GUI or run through Tim Mann's WinBoard interface.  Download by clicking the images alongside each featured game but make sure you visit the links to the author's web sites where new versions are released regularly and where you'll find support for many other platforms. 

ARASAN 8.4 for 32 bit Windows/WinBoard:
Nice program by Jon Dart that has its own GUI or, if you prefer, can run through WinBoard.  To run via WinBoard, install both WinBoard and Arasan, then create the following example shortcut:
"C:\Program Files\WinBoard\winboard.exe" -cp -fcp "C:\Program Files\Arasan\arasanx.exe -H 8000". 
WinBoard only, Linux and 16 bit versions (2.2) are available from the author's website at http://www.arasanchess.org.  Versions of Arasan have been hosted on a couple of Internet chess servers and it has participated in several computer chess tournaments.  (February 2005 - 5,162KB exe file)

CHENARD 1.040 for 32 bit Windows:
A good, basic chess program from Don Cross that has its own GUI.  Chenard is not as strong as some of the commercial programs but still gives the average player a good run for their money (well, not money exactly, it's completely free remember!)  and is a very small download (117KB zip file)  DOS and Linux versions were available from Don's website at http://www.intersrv.com/~dcross/chenard.html as were speech support for the 32 bit windows version, but when I last tested the link (October 2003) it was broken :-( ???

TCB (The Crazy Bishop) 0052:
(July 2004 - 206KB zip file) is a chess engine by Remi Coulom that is perhaps best used with WinBoard.  To do this, install WinBoard and then unzip the Crazy Bishop files into their own directory.  Then, create a shortcut something like this:
"C:\Program Files\WinBoard\winboard.exe" -cp -fcp "C:\Program Files\TCB\tcb.exe"
Detailed instructions on other ways to use TCB are included in the zip file.  Other engines including Linux versions are available from Remi's web site at http://remi.coulom.free.fr/

DER BRINGER 1.9 for 32 bit Windows:
This is one of my personal favourites.  A very comprehensive chess program by Gerrit Reubold that has it's own very informative GUI or can be used as a WinBoard engine if you prefer.  I've never used it in the latter way but, if you wanted to, the instructions as shown above for Arasan and TCB might work.  But Der Bringer's GUI is great so why bother?  English support is perhaps a little limited (it's a German program) but who cares, it plays good chess, it looks great and it wont cost you a bean.  (1,114KB zip file.)

EXCHESS 4.03a for Windows:
An experimental chess engine by Dan Homan.  Additionally, source code which can be compiled to run on Windows or UNIX platforms is available from Dan's website at http://home.earthlink.net/~econerd/EXchess.html (blimey, another broken link? December 2004 :-( )  Install WinBoard first, then run the setup program for EXchess.  It configures a shortcut to run the engine through WinBoard for you.  Double-click and away you go :-)  (741KB)

GROMIT 3.8.2:
By Frank Schneider, this is a strong chess engine that has performed very well in several computer chess tournaments.  It is best used with WinBoard and can be set up as per the instructions for TCB shown above.  (160KB zip file)

WINBOARD 4.2.7 for 32 bit Windows:
Originally developed by Tim Mann, this is the GUI front end that you'll need to run the "engine-only" programs above and others that have no graphics interface of their own.  Comprehensive instructions on how you can configure WinBoard are included, but, generally, a basic shortcut like the ones described above will get you up and running.  Lots of other versions (for UNIX (Xboard) and Amiga (AmyBoard)) and heaps of information are available from http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum.  WinBoard comes with two chess engines built in - GNU Chess 4.0 and GNU Chess 5.0. so it's worth downloading in its own right.   (5,498KB)

  ADVENTURE / RPG / ROGUELIKE GAMES

What we have here are some of the most addictive adventure role-playing games available for the computer.  Incredibly, their origins date back well over a quarter of a century and yet they're still being played and developed today - for practically every platform you can think of.  And what's more they're all free :)

We're not talking mindless hack'n'slash here - the vast range of characters, creatures, weapons, armour, objects, artefacts and magic is far too broad for that.   Furthermore, no two games are ever the same as the environment is generated randomly every time you start afresh.  To do well you're going to need skill, patience and plenty of favours from your chosen deity.  I've been playing variations of these games for thirty years and I haven't won a single one yet!  It's easiest to start out as a warrior and use brute force in the early levels.  But don't forget to learn that magic or, in the later levels, you're dragon fodder!!

They mostly combine text with ASCII graphics to represent a "map" of your character's surroundings, but some of the latest versions now support picture "tiles" to give a more attractive graphical representation.  In one case - Utumno - the tiles are animated so that you can manoeuvre your character around and fight "arcade style" without losing the richness of the underlying game.

I've provided links to what I believe are the current maintainers of the games and I encourage you to go there to get the latest versions and any extra info you may need.  Download by clicking on the pictures (by Dee Dreslough) alongside each featured game.