Beagle Bag
Encyclopedia
Beagle Bag is a collection of computer games
for the Apple II
family of computers published in 1982 by Beagle Bros Software
. In common with their other titles, the Beagle Bag software was released in unlocked and unprotected form, and is now in the public domain.
, Apple II+ and Apple IIe
computers.
, the computer relates a short story in which certain key words are replaced with blanks. Each time the story reaches a blank, the user selects a letter and the computer then randomly inserts a word from its vocabulary starting with that letter. Buzzword! comes with five pre-made stories and also allows users to create their own.
In addition to entering a custom story, the Beagle Bag manual also includes instructions about how to edit Buzzword!s vocabulary.
Each carload of passengers delivered to the ground floor earns the player a point. Points are displayed to the left of the building, the time of day to the right.
-style game in which the player must guess the letters of a word or short phrase. For each incorrect guess, another piece of the person is drawn in; six incorrect guesses lose the game. Hang Person allows a user to play by themselves against the computer, or to enter a word of their own (up to 14 characters) that a second user must guess. Instructions on how to edit the computer's vocabulary of 150 words are given in the manual.
-rolling game with each player taking turns rolling to score points. Players can reroll to achieve better results, but lose their turn if the dice show doubles. First to 200 points wins the game.
A version of Oink! was used in experiments conducted in the mid-1980s to test for the existence of psychokinesis
, the results of which were published in the Journal of Parapsychology
.
or Hūsker Dū?, Pick-A-Pair is a two-person memory game played on a 4x4 array of 16 numbers, behind each of which is a symbol. Players take turns revealing, two at a time, the symbols behind each number; if the two they pick match, the two are removed and the player earns points equal to the sum of the two numbers. The first player to earn 68 points wins the game.
Points are awarded on how quickly players can make successful shots and are displayed beneath each cowboy. Scores rounded off to the nearest whole number appear on each cowboy's hat. First player to 10 points wins.
that challenges the player to sequentially order 15 numbered tiles within a 4x4 playing area using as few moves as possible. Slippery Digits has two styles of play: one in which the number of each tile is shown, and another more challenging one in which each numbers begins hidden and only appears when it's in its proper position.
The player must manage oxygen and fuel supplies, both of which are assigned in random quantities at the beginning of the game and quickly diminish. An "equalizer" balances the two, and a "jump" function allows the player to jump to a random location in the playing area. The final score is based on the percentage of subs found multiplied by one thousand, plus the amount of fuel and oxygen remaining.
the top of the track as quickly as possible. The player can move the train forward or backward around the tracks and onto sidings, open and close switches and couple and uncouple cars. Coupling a car ahead of the engine or driving into a closed switch will derail the train and end the game.
Each player on his turn can also open or close one of many "gates" in the maze's walls, represented by letters. Doing so can open shortcuts to letters or block one's opponent. The first player to collect all the letters of the keyword wins.
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
for the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
family of computers published in 1982 by Beagle Bros Software
Beagle Bros
Beagle Bros was a software company that specialized in creating personal computing products that were both useful and whimsical. Their primary focus was on the Apple II family of computers.-History:...
. In common with their other titles, the Beagle Bag software was released in unlocked and unprotected form, and is now in the public domain.
Games
Beagle Bag, collectively credited to "Bert Kersey and the Beagle Bros Staff", contains games designed for the Apple IIApple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, Apple II+ and Apple IIe
Apple IIe
The Apple IIe is the third model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The e in the name stands for enhanced, referring to the fact that several popular features were now built-in that were only available as upgrades and add-ons in earlier models...
computers.
Buzzword!
In Buzzword!, a children's game based on Mad LibsMad Libs
Mad Libs is a phrasal template word game where one player prompts another for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story, usually with funny results...
, the computer relates a short story in which certain key words are replaced with blanks. Each time the story reaches a blank, the user selects a letter and the computer then randomly inserts a word from its vocabulary starting with that letter. Buzzword! comes with five pre-made stories and also allows users to create their own.
In addition to entering a custom story, the Beagle Bag manual also includes instructions about how to edit Buzzword!s vocabulary.
Elevators
Elevators challenges the player to use four elevators to deliver as many carloads of passengers as possible in a short period of time (5:00 to 5:30). Passengers appear on any of ten different floors in a high-rise building and must be collected by sending one of four elevator cars to the correct floor and back down again. The movement of each car can be controlled separately by three rows of keys: 1, 2, 3 and 4 to move up, A, S, D and F to move down, and Q, W, E and R to stop. Power can also be cut to certain cars, allowing others to move more quickly.Each carload of passengers delivered to the ground floor earns the player a point. Points are displayed to the left of the building, the time of day to the right.
Gas Crunch
This simple game involves taking turns with the computer to remove gas cans from a wall. Both the player and the computer can choose to remove one, two or three cans each time, with the object of not having to take the last remaining can.Hang Person
Hang Person is a simple hangmanHangman (game)
Hangman is a paper and pencil guessing game for two or more players. One player thinks of a word and the other tries to guess it by suggesting letters.-Overview:...
-style game in which the player must guess the letters of a word or short phrase. For each incorrect guess, another piece of the person is drawn in; six incorrect guesses lose the game. Hang Person allows a user to play by themselves against the computer, or to enter a word of their own (up to 14 characters) that a second user must guess. Instructions on how to edit the computer's vocabulary of 150 words are given in the manual.
Magic Pack
This program acts as an aid to performing four separate magic tricks described in the accompanying manual: "Plenty Questions", in which the computer attempts to guess the object someone's thinking of; "21 Numbers", a number guessing trick; "Next Word", in which the computer and the player create a logical series of words; and "Card Scanner", in which the computer purports to identify a playing card held against the screen.Oink!
Oink! is a two-player diceDice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
-rolling game with each player taking turns rolling to score points. Players can reroll to achieve better results, but lose their turn if the dice show doubles. First to 200 points wins the game.
A version of Oink! was used in experiments conducted in the mid-1980s to test for the existence of psychokinesis
Psychokinesis
The term psychokinesis , also referred to as telekinesis with respect to strictly describing movement of matter, sometimes abbreviated PK and TK respectively, is a term...
, the results of which were published in the Journal of Parapsychology
Journal of Parapsychology
The Journal of Parapsychology is a semi-annual peer-reviewed publication "devoted primarily to the original publication of experimental results and other research findings in extrasensory perception and psychokinesis." It also contains reviews of "literature relevant to parapsychology, criticisms...
.
Pick-A-Pair
Similar to ConcentrationConcentration (game)
Concentration, also known as Memory, Pelmanism, Shinkei-suijaku, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and two cards are flipped face up over each turn. The object of the game is to turn over pairs of matching cards...
or Hūsker Dū?, Pick-A-Pair is a two-person memory game played on a 4x4 array of 16 numbers, behind each of which is a symbol. Players take turns revealing, two at a time, the symbols behind each number; if the two they pick match, the two are removed and the player earns points equal to the sum of the two numbers. The first player to earn 68 points wins the game.
Quick-Draw!
Quick-Draw! is a two-player cowboy shoot-out game. Each round the computer selects an abstract "firing symbol" which it displays between the two gunmen, then quickly cycles through various random symbols including the one it selected. If a player fires while the correct symbol is shown and does so quicker than his opponent, he'll win the round. If he fires while the wrong symbol is shown, his opponent get a free shot.Points are awarded on how quickly players can make successful shots and are displayed beneath each cowboy. Scores rounded off to the nearest whole number appear on each cowboy's hat. First player to 10 points wins.
Slippery Digits
This game is a sliding puzzleSliding puzzle
A sliding puzzle, sliding block puzzle, or sliding tile puzzle is a puzzle that challenges a player to slide usually flat pieces along certain routes to establish a certain end-configuration....
that challenges the player to sequentially order 15 numbered tiles within a 4x4 playing area using as few moves as possible. Slippery Digits has two styles of play: one in which the number of each tile is shown, and another more challenging one in which each numbers begins hidden and only appears when it's in its proper position.
Sub Search
In this submarine-hunting game, the player must identify the locations of a random number of submarines hidden within the playing area. The player moves his ship north, south, east or west, and the areas over which the ship travels light up green. If a submarine is within the area through which the ship has moved, it will appear as a black silhouette; moving directly over a submarine marks it as found. To help direct the search, the player can use a sonar-like scanner to faintly reveal where submarines are located.The player must manage oxygen and fuel supplies, both of which are assigned in random quantities at the beginning of the game and quickly diminish. An "equalizer" balances the two, and a "jump" function allows the player to jump to a random location in the playing area. The final score is based on the percentage of subs found multiplied by one thousand, plus the amount of fuel and oxygen remaining.
TextTrain
TextTrain is a train simulator that uses a word or other series of letter to represent the cars of a train. The game's object is to couple together a pre-defined series of freight cars and pull them to the Check Station atthe top of the track as quickly as possible. The player can move the train forward or backward around the tracks and onto sidings, open and close switches and couple and uncouple cars. Coupling a car ahead of the engine or driving into a closed switch will derail the train and end the game.
Triple Digits
TripleDigits is a numbers game for two players. Each player is dealt a set of thirteen digits (0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8); one plays white, the other black. Numbers are placed one at a time in the unoccupied squares of a 9x8 board according to the computer's instructions. Scoring is based on the number that was played and its two adjacent digits, read together as a single number; for instance, a row of 2, 4 and 6 would yield a score of 246. Rows can be vertical, horizontal or diagonal. TripleDigits ends when all the numbers have been played or one of the players resigns.Wowzo
The object of Wowzo is for each player to move his "man" (represented on the board by the first three letters of his name) through the maze and land on each letter of a five-letter keyword before his opponent does. The letters of the keyword, which is entered by a player at the start of the game, are scattered randomly throughout the maze. Players can move their men left, right, up or down; the man will continue to move in that direction until it hits a wall or encounters one of the letters of the keyword (which grants a free turn).Each player on his turn can also open or close one of many "gates" in the maze's walls, represented by letters. Doing so can open shortcuts to letters or block one's opponent. The first player to collect all the letters of the keyword wins.
Utilities
Included in the Beagle Bag collection is Beagle Menu, a configurable disk menu program that offers one-key access to select files.Other software
Beagle Bag also includes several simple programs that according to the manual "have been gathering dust around here for years."- Baby Names generates semi-random names of five to seven letters.
- Cross Word insults the user at every keypress.
- Date Search calculates the number of days between two dates.
- Pack My Box challenges the user to create a pangramPangramA pangram , or holoalphabetic sentence, is a sentence using every letter of the alphabet at least once. Pangrams have been used to display typefaces, test equipment, and develop skills in handwriting, calligraphy, and keyboarding...
of less than 32 letters. - Poly-Dice simulates the results of rolling dice of a specified number of sides.
- Naked City is a practical joke program that displays bogus computer errors.
- Name Game produces variations of a person's name: Spoonerisms, vowelisms, Pig LatinPig LatinPig Latin is a language game of alterations played in English. To form the Pig Latin form of an English word the first consonant is moved to the end of the word and an ay is affixed . The object is to conceal the meaning of the words from others not familiar with the rules...
, etc. - Test Patterns produces lo-res or hi-res test patterns.
External links
- Beagle Bag at the Beagle Bros Software Repository
- Beagle Bag Instructions