For me, one of the best ways to use my PDA is to play games - noone wants to work all the time, right? I'm always on the lookout for new games, so I was very pleased to be given the opportunity to review a game from Smart Box Design: Farkle, which is a game combining Craps and Yahtzee.
The game can have up to four players (with a minimum of two required), and can be any combination of Palm or Human. You can choose to set a minimum score that the players must attain in order to start the game, and also the score to play up to.
You roll 6 dice, choosing at least one scoring die on each roll. The scoring dice are 1,5,three of a kind, three pairs, and a 6-dice straight. On each roll you can choose to Pass and keep your current score, or you can try your luck at getting a higher score, and roll the remaining die. If your roll doesn't have any scoring die, you get a Farkle. If you get three Farkles in a row, you lose 1000 points. And, yes, if your score is less than 1000 points at the time, you go into negative scores!
When one of the players has reached the score to play up to, each other player has one chance to see if they can beat the current high score. You keep rolling the dice until you either beat the score or Farkle, with the winner being the person with the highest score.
Of course I had to make that screen shot example one where I won - anything else just wouldn't have been right ;)
There is also a statistics table where you can view the win/loss record for all of the players.
Farkle has elements of luck and skill to it - you need luck on your side in getting the highest scoring combinations, but you also need to know the best time to bank your points - it happened more than once that I thought I'd give it "just one more roll" to see if I could better my score, only to end up with a Farkle.
It all depends on your strategy - some people are more willing to go for broke than I am!
I really enjoy playing Farkle. The graphics are beautiful, with rich colours, and the sound effects are a nice touch to the game. The rules are easy to learn, and the game is very addictive. It is the perfect game to play if you have a few minutes spare, but at the same time it is very easy to spend a lot longer on it!
I highly recommend Farkle - it has definitely earned a spot on my list of most-played games on my PDA.
Farkle is available for $14.95 from the Smart Box Design site (although look in the PA sidebar for a special deal).
- Jenny O'Reilly, Associate Writer (Australia)
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