Kyodai Mah-jongg
               Downloaded from www.kyodai.com

                      Reviewed by Sue

I was showed this Mah-jongg Solitaire variant at the 2001
Adventure Convention and was very impressed with the look of it. I
was given the URL to download the shareware version which is sized
at about 4 meg.

The basic game comes in three variations - random, specific and
two player. The specific game lets you type in a game number from
1 to 999,999,999! The two player game requires net access. The
default layout for solitaire is the usual one that we're all
familiar with but there are loads to choose between using the
Layout button on the toolbar including 3D Pyramid, Cat and Mouse,
and Big Hole.

All the layouts can be played as tradition 2D boards or in 3D.
This is a very nice, realistic way to play. You can tilt and twist
the board as you move the mouse. The bottom status row displays
the number of tiles left, the number of free pairs, time taken and
layout. The different layers of tiles use varying amounts of
shading, making it easier than usual to tell which tiles are on
which level.

The game called Rivers has an unusual twist in that any tiles can
be selected but they must be arranged in a certain way to be
removable. The way the rules describe it is like this - "if you
try to draw a horizontal and vertical line trough the space
between the tiles, there must not be more than two corners in the
line". No, I didn't understand it either. The author suggests you
play for a while making use of the Hint option. That did help and
I found the layout a lot of fun but it isn't easy to explain how
it works!

Memory is like pelmanism, where you turn over tiles in pairs and
have to match them up by remembering where they all are.


In Clicks you match touching tiles which are of the same colour
and tiles above fall down into the gap.

In Slider you have to remove tiles in fives or more by sliding one
each turn into an available space. The tile being moved must go in
a straight line.

Hashire is similar to Tetris. You have to match falling blocks in
threes to be able to remove them.

Kumika swaps tiles in pairs if they then make a line of 3 or more
like tiles. This set of three is then removed, more tiles dropping
from above to fill the gap.

All in all then, this is an impressive and varied collection of
games. But if you run out of ones to try, there's even a layout
editor. Having opened a layout you like, you just select Edit
Layout, or you can use Create Layout to make one from scratch. You
can also make a new tileset and the author will be pleased to see
them. He may even include your work with a future release.
Tilesets, layouts and other files can be downloaded from the
Kyodai site.

There are three themes - original, blue (very classy) and kids
(clear layout with numbers and faces). But other than that you can
mix and match the backgrounds, menu interface, tiles and music.

As a nice touch, you can check a menu option so that ALL the
layouts are winnable in at least one way.

Registration is a suggested $20 to remove the nag screens,

If you haven't got net access or can't be bothered to download it,
for a copy of the unregistered version on CD, send me 6 first
class stamps.




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