CrossCards 1.0
Game Review

CrossCards 1.0
Company: Freeverse Software
Shareware: $14.95, $24.95 for CD
http://www.freeverse.com

Mike: Familiar yet unique, CrossCards
from Freeverse Software is an excellent
concept and a superb game. Of course, with games such as Hearts Deluxe and Enigma on the resume, I wouldn’t expect anything less than quality from Freeverse, and once again they do not disappoint.

Adam: Freeverse does indeed have a wonderful reputation for high quality games, and CrossCards is no exception. With a well-designed interface and an original concept, CrossCards is set to be another winner.

Mike: CrossCards is, in a nutshell, a cross between Scrabble and Poker. You play a Scrabble-like board, and can lay any combination of cards that is a legal poker hand.

Adam: It’s a lot like spelling a word in Scrabble, only you lay out a deck of cards to achieve maximum points. All the rules of general Scrabble apply. You must form a new set of cards off a stem, and any cards placed next to each other must be a legal poker hand. For example, in Scrabble, you can’t place a “T” and a “Y” next to each other, because they don’t spell a word. In CrossCards, placing a 2 of hearts and a 5 of clubs next to each other would also not be a legal move.

Mike: You score points according to the face value of the cards and the score multiplier spaces on the board, and bonus points are scored if you can lay a “special” hand such as a flush, full house, or a straight.

Up to four players can play the game, and if you’re playing by yourself, you can have the computer control the other players. You can set the computer intelligence to 10 different levels of difficulty, and you can also set each computer-controlled player to a different intelligence level.

Adam: Computer players are fun to play against. If you make a big move from which you gain a lot of points, the computer player will make a “shocked” face. But, fairness applies – if the computer player is winning, he/she will be sure to have a nice smile on their face!

Mike: There are tons of options that make CrossCards even more fun to play. There are different boards to choose from, the option to play with one or two decks of cards, and the ability to sort your hand according to card value or suit. If you get stumped, you can ask the game to calculate the highest-scoring move or the best strategic move for you. CrossCards can keep track of statistics for each game played, too.

Adam: In addition to all the bells and whistles, Cross Cards has an extremely detailed help system and an informative ‘read me’ file. If you have never played Poker, Scrabble, or both, the “Getting Started” and “How To Play” sections under the “Help” menu are must reads.

Requirements/Availability
No requirements are given for CrossCards, but on my 6400 it requires around 2MB of hard disk space, and 2.8MB of free RAM. I assume a 256-color monitor with a resolution of 640 x 480 would also be required.

You can download CrossCards 1.0 at the Freeverse Software home page, at http://www.freeverse.com
.

The Summary
Mike: There is no arguing – CrossCards is astounding. Great graphics, amusing sounds and much more make CrossCards one excellent time-wasting, entertaining, and downright fun game.

Adam: The quality, thought, and time that was put into CrossCards definitely shows. It’s a shareware game that really lets you get a feel for it before you hand over $15.00. While paying the shareware fee will unlock all the features of the game and give you access to new opponents, scenarios, and skill levels, there are enough features enabled in the trial version to have fun. With an user-friendly layout, “at-your-fingertips” help, and what Mike and I call an “anti-crippleware” attitude, CrossCards has passed our test.

Download CrossCards 1.0 

 

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Mike Wallinga (mikew@mymac.com)
Adam Karneboge (webmaster@mymac.com)

Websites mentioned:
http://www.freeverse.com