in 25+ years of retro gaming and sierra, i’ve never once seen someone mention Hoyle’s Book of Games
despite its small stature, it was one of the most financially lucrative sierra titles, and spawned an entire series of games.
what makes it special is that opponents are (for the most part) characters from sierra titles, each playing in a style expressive of the character’s personality. graham and rosella are friendly and not overly competitive, larry is silly and aggressive with his cards.
the dog? the dog is a real shithead.
#sierraOnline #retroGaming
Oh wow. Sorry, Hoyle.
In retrospect I’ve thought numerous times about Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, and King’s Quest (this was the order played from a young age for me) as being foundational for me. But so was Hoyle’s Book of Games, as much so.
@[email protected] getting to play Old Maid with Leisure Suit Larry, Roger Wilco, and one of the “dogs playing poker” dogs* is an unforgettable experience in card gaming.
- like, officially, even! the “dogs playing poker” paintings were commissioned in the early 1900s by Brown & Bigelow, who - by the late 80s - owned all the Hoyle trademarks.
I forgot about that until you mentioned it. I was a little kid, so cribbage was a little beyond me, but old maid was great! I didn’t play the games that the other players were characters from, so I had no idea they existed in other worlds, but I made up backstories for all of them.
We didn’t get a computer at my house until around the mid 90s, so when this game came out I would have been playing Vegas Dream on the NES instead! Looking back at it now it’s entirely probable that the NES game was a poor imitation of the Sierra game lol but I still loved it even though I was probably too young to understand all the rules
@[email protected] I played the HELL out of this thing. I loved that you could chat with all these characters and I dimly remember trying to get deep lore from Rosella.
@[email protected] i remember a friend had this, and i really liked it! but i didnt get to play it more than a little — they lived a few hundred miles away, so we couldnt visit often.
@[email protected] Hoyle III was a masterpiece. I still play it at times.
@[email protected] It was the one game that everyone in the family would play! Such a classic!
