** PD/Shareware review / 424 words **

Triple Yahoo v1.0

85%

** BC **
Entertainment
Shareware, all Ataris
Author: Stuart Denman
Email: sdenman@cs.washington.edu
http://www.nwlink.com/~stuart/myprogs.html
** /BC **

** 3Y_GAME.GIF here **
** 3Y_PREFS.GIF **

This GEM version has been around a while but its user interface still works perfectly at any resolution or colour depth. Triple Yahoo is a Triple Yahtzee clone, they're both a refined version of poker dice and I'd never personally played this games genre before.

Up to four players can compete against each other or you can play solo and try to beat the high scores. Triple Yahoo is much more about strategy than rolling dice.

Like poker dice you have up to three rolls of the dice to come up with your final scoring combination using the usual poker combinations, three/four of a kind, straights, full house and Yahoo (all five dice the same). Unlike poker dice the actual combination is less important than where you place it on the scorecard.

The scorecard has three columns each consisting of twelve scoring combinations plus three chances to gamble your score - a total of 39 slots which must all be filled to complete the game. To add to the mayhem the three columns score normal, double and triple points. It's easier to play than to explain!

After each turn you must select somewhere on the scorecard to enter your score (selecting an inappropriate slot scores zero) and maximise your total. It's easy at first, if you rolled four sixes you would score it in the four of a kind row in the triple points column but as the slots start to fill up you have to come up with a winning strategy to come out on top.

The fonts and the colours used can be selected, everything is windowed and STe/TT/Falcon users get DMA sound effects, ST users have to make do with chip sounds. There's also a basic on-line help screen which lists the scoring combinations and it runs fine under MagiC.

I found the game soooo addictive I was playing it for ages instead of writing this article! It's the perfect alternative to Prozac for the Atari office user (are there any left?) and I've added it to my shortlist of games I've been meaning to register for ages.

Triple Yahoo is supported by CyberSTrider and registration costs œ12.

Matt Burton