Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 1
Encyclopedia
Hoyle's Official Book of Games is a series of games produced by Sierra Entertainment
. Volume 1, released in 1989, featured multi-player card games. Volume 2, released in 1990, featured 28 varieties of Solitaire. Volume 3, released in 1992, featured board games. Volume 4, was a remake of Volume 1, with two additional games.
.
The Hoyle trademark and facecards were used under license from Brown & Bigelow Inc.
, Old Maid
, Hearts, Gin Rummy
, Cribbage
and Klondike
.
and manner of playing. These opponents included historical figures, members of Sierra staff, and characters from Sierra games.
When the player took too long making a decision, the characters started having dialogues, each according to his background. For example, Leisure Suit Larry begins to comment about women, while Roger Wilco wants to escape the game to save the universe again.
"More serious players"
"Not so serious players"
(CEO/Founder of Sierra On-line) by Warren Schwader. Once the project was greenlit, Warren acted as the Lead Programmer
as well as the Game Designer. The games were programmed using Sierra On-line's proprietary scripting language: Sierra Creative Interpreter (SCI). SCI was originally created to aid in the development of Sierra's core line of adventure games. Working with SCI to implement card games and to code artificial intelligence for the characters proved challenging.
Warren Schwader continued as the Lead Programmer and Game Designer for the next two games in the series.
. This time, the pack offered 28 games, as opposed to the first volume
's six. The other main difference between the two was that all the games were solitaire
variants, so there was no option for choosing opponents. Subsequently, the game did not feature any Sierra characters for co-players.
The 28 solitaire games offered are: Calculation, Strategy, Eagle Wing
, Beleaguered Castle
, Klondike
, Canfield
, Golf
, Flower Garden
, Scorpion
, Spiderette, La Belle Lucie
, Fortress
, Baker's Dozen, Bristol
, Eight Off
, Shamrocks
, Yukon
, Eliminator, Slide, Bowling, Nestor
, Aces Up
, Gaps
, Penguin
, Pyramid, Triplets, Poker Square
based on the officially licensed Hoyle
rules and trademark. Unlike the two previous game, this one was made with Sierra's new improved VGA engine, and focused on board games, where the previous entries in the series had featured card game
s.
Games featured were Backgammon
, Checkers, Dominoes
, Yacht (a takeoff on Yahtzee
), Pachisi
, and Snakes and Ladders
.
Good guys
Evil guys
and Euchre
.
Classic characters:
Sierra characters:
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
. Volume 1, released in 1989, featured multi-player card games. Volume 2, released in 1990, featured 28 varieties of Solitaire. Volume 3, released in 1992, featured board games. Volume 4, was a remake of Volume 1, with two additional games.
Volume 1
Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 1 was the first card game simulator series released by Sierra entertainment. The series owes its name to Edmond HoyleEdmond Hoyle
Edmond Hoyle was a writer best known for his works on the rules and play of card games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" came into the language as a reflection of his generally-perceived authority on the subject; since that time, use of the phrase has expanded into general use in situations in...
.
The Hoyle trademark and facecards were used under license from Brown & Bigelow Inc.
Games
The games included are: Crazy EightsCrazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players. The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all the player's cards to a discard pile. The game is considered a pre-extension of Switch and Mau Mau, much favoured in schools during the 1970s.A standard 52-card deck is...
, Old Maid
Old Maid
Old maid is a Victorian card game for two to eight players probably deriving from an ancient gambling game in which the loser pays for the drinks. It is known in Germany as Schwarzer Peter, in Sweden as Svarte Petter and in Finland as Musta Pekka and in France as le pouilleux or vieux garçon...
, Hearts, Gin Rummy
Gin rummy
Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. Graham Baker. According to John Scarne, Gin evolved from 18th-century Whiskey Poker and was created with the intention of being faster than standard rummy, but less spontaneous than knock...
, Cribbage
Cribbage
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points...
and Klondike
Klondike (solitaire)
Klondike is a Patience game . Many people refer to Klondike as patience or solitaire .- Rules :...
.
Characters
For all games, except the last, the player could choose opponents, each having their own AIAi
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
and manner of playing. These opponents included historical figures, members of Sierra staff, and characters from Sierra games.
When the player took too long making a decision, the characters started having dialogues, each according to his background. For example, Leisure Suit Larry begins to comment about women, while Roger Wilco wants to escape the game to save the universe again.
"More serious players"
- The Kid
- Warren Schwader (programmer)
- Diane
- Thelma
- Sol Silverman
- Colonel Henri Dijon
- Lenny
- Shelly LeBlanc
- Sonny BondsPolice QuestPolice Quest is a series of computer games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1993. The original series was composed of four adventure games, the first three of which were designed by former policeman Jim Walls, with the fourth title designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F....
"Not so serious players"
- Larry LafferLarry LafferLarry Laffer is a fictional character and the main character of the Leisure Suit Larry series of games. He was created by game programmer Al Lowe.-Biography:...
- Bulldog
- Devin (son of the animator)
- Jerry Moore (Sierra animator)
- King GrahamKing's QuestKing's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
- Cassie
- Roger Wilco
- Rosella
- Christina (programmer's daughter)
Development
The original concept was submitted to Ken WilliamsKen Williams
Ken Williams may refer to:*Kenneth Williams , British actor*Ken Williams , baseball outfielder*Ken Williams , American college basketball player...
(CEO/Founder of Sierra On-line) by Warren Schwader. Once the project was greenlit, Warren acted as the Lead Programmer
Lead programmer
A lead programmer is a software engineer in charge of one or more software projects. Alternative titles include Development Lead, Technical Lead, Senior Software Engineer, Software Design Engineer Lead , Software Manager, or Senior Applications Developer...
as well as the Game Designer. The games were programmed using Sierra On-line's proprietary scripting language: Sierra Creative Interpreter (SCI). SCI was originally created to aid in the development of Sierra's core line of adventure games. Working with SCI to implement card games and to code artificial intelligence for the characters proved challenging.
Warren Schwader continued as the Lead Programmer and Game Designer for the next two games in the series.
Volume 2
Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 2 is the next volume in the Hoyle card games simulator series by Sierra EntertainmentSierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
. This time, the pack offered 28 games, as opposed to the first volume
Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 1
Hoyle's Official Book of Games is a series of games produced by Sierra Entertainment. Volume 1, released in 1989, featured multi-player card games. Volume 2, released in 1990, featured 28 varieties of Solitaire. Volume 3, released in 1992, featured board games...
's six. The other main difference between the two was that all the games were solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
variants, so there was no option for choosing opponents. Subsequently, the game did not feature any Sierra characters for co-players.
The 28 solitaire games offered are: Calculation, Strategy, Eagle Wing
Eagle Wing
Eagle Wing is a Patience game which is played with a deck of 52 playing cards. The game takes its name from the tableau which depicts a bird, particularly an eagle, spreading its wings in flight.-Rules:...
, Beleaguered Castle
Beleaguered Castle
Beleaguered Castle is a solitaire card game played with a deck of 52 playing cards. It is one of the card games touted as "Freecell without cells" because its game play is somehow akin to the popular solitaire computer game but without extra empty spaces to maneuver...
, Klondike
Klondike (solitaire)
Klondike is a Patience game . Many people refer to Klondike as patience or solitaire .- Rules :...
, Canfield
Canfield (solitaire)
Canfield is a solitaire card game with a very low probability to win. According to legend, it is originally a casino game, named after the casino owner who is said to have invented it. In England, it is known as Demon.-The story behind the game:...
, Golf
Golf (card game)
Golf is a card game where players try to earn the lowest number of points over the course of nine deals...
, Flower Garden
Flower Garden (solitaire)
Flower Garden is a solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards. It is not known why the game is called such, but the terms used in this game do have a relation to those in gardening and it takes merit that some skill is needed. It is also known under the names The Bouquet and The...
, Scorpion
Scorpion (solitaire)
Scorpion is a Patience game using a deck of 52 playing cards. Although somewhat related to Spider, the method of game play is akin to Yukon. The object of this game is to form four columns of suit sequence cards from king down to ace....
, Spiderette, La Belle Lucie
La Belle Lucie
La Belle Lucie is a Patience game where the object is to build the cards into the foundations.All cards are visible from the start, but this does not imply that this game is solvable with strategy. The default rule is very hard to win. The majority of games cannot be solved...
, Fortress
Fortress (solitaire)
Fortress is a solitaire card game which is played with a deck of playing cards, of the Castle family. It has two more tableau piles than Belaguered Castle and the piles are shorter....
, Baker's Dozen, Bristol
Bristol (solitaire)
Bristol is a Patience game using a deck of 52 playing cards. It has an unusual feature of building regardless of suit on both the foundations and on the tableau; it is also one of the easiest to win.-Rules:...
, Eight Off
Eight Off
Eight Off is a form of Patience, named after its employment of eight cells, played with one deck of playing cards. The object of the game is to move all the cards into the foundations.-Rules:...
, Shamrocks
Shamrocks
Shamrocks is a solitaire game akin to La Belle Lucie. The object is the same as the latter: move the cards into the foundations.-Rules:The game is layout out as in La Belle Lucie: seventeen piles of three cards are placed on the table with one card counting as an eighteenth. Any card that can be...
, Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
, Eliminator, Slide, Bowling, Nestor
Nestor (solitaire)
Nestor is a Patience game where the object is the removal of pairs.- Rules :Cards are dealt into eight columns of six cards. They are dealt in such a way that no two cards in the same column have the same rank...
, Aces Up
Aces Up
Aces Up is a solitaire card game using a deck of 52 playing cards...
, Gaps
Gaps
Gaps is a member of the Montana group of Patience games, where the arrangement of cards from Deuce to King is the object. Other games in the group include Spaces, Vacancies, Clown Solitaire, Montana itself, and Blue Moon.-Rules:The cards are dealt into four rows of thirteen. The aces are removed...
, Penguin
Penguin (solitaire)
Penguin is a solitaire card game, invented by David Parlett, which uses a deck of 52 playing cards. The game play is similar to other solitaire card games as Freecell and Eight Off.-Rules:...
, Pyramid, Triplets, Poker Square
Poker Square
Poker Square is a Patience game with a very unusual objective: to build the best poker hand using just 25 cards from the deck.-Rules:The game starts with placing a card onto a space in a 5x5 grid...
Volume 3
Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 3 was the third volume in Sierra On-Line's series of computer gamesPersonal computer game
A PC game, also known as a computer game, is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine...
based on the officially licensed Hoyle
Hoyle
Hoyle is a surname, and may refer to* Alan Hoyle, British basketball player and coach* Arthur Hoyle, Australian historian and biographer* Bert Hoyle , English football goalkeeper* Colin Hoyle, English football player...
rules and trademark. Unlike the two previous game, this one was made with Sierra's new improved VGA engine, and focused on board games, where the previous entries in the series had featured card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
s.
Games featured were Backgammon
Backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and players win by removing all of their pieces from the board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits...
, Checkers, Dominoes
Dominoes
Dominoes generally refers to the collective gaming pieces making up a domino set or to the subcategory of tile games played with domino pieces. In the area of mathematical tilings and polyominoes, the word domino often refers to any rectangle formed from joining two congruent squares edge to edge...
, Yacht (a takeoff on Yahtzee
Yahtzee
Yahtzee is a dice game made by Milton Bradley , which was first marketed by game entrepreneur Edwin S. Lowe in 1956. The game is a development of earlier dice games, such as Yacht and Generala. The object of the game is to score the most points by rolling five dice to make certain combinations...
), Pachisi
Pachisi
Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that originated in ancient India which has been described as the "national game of India". It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross...
, and Snakes and Ladders
Snakes and ladders
Snakes and Ladders is an ancient Indian board game regarded today as a worldwide classic. It is played between two or more players on a game board having numbered, gridded squares. A number of "ladders" and "snakes" are pictured on the board, each connecting two specific board squares...
.
Characters
Like the first volume, and unlike the second volume, this game offers Sierra characters as opponents in the various games.Good guys
- Mother GooseMother GooseThe familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
(Mixed-Up Mother GooseMixed-Up Mother GooseRoberta Williams' Mixed-Up Mother Goose is a computer game first released by Sierra On-Line in 1987. It is, in essence, an edutainment title, directed specifically at young gamers, as well as an adventure game.-Plot:...
) - King Graham (King's QuestKing's QuestKing's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
series) - Rosella (King's QuestKing's QuestKing's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
series) - Larry LafferLarry LafferLarry Laffer is a fictional character and the main character of the Leisure Suit Larry series of games. He was created by game programmer Al Lowe.-Biography:...
(Leisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
series) - Passionate Patti (Leisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit LarryLeisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
series) - Jones (Jones in the Fast LaneJones in the Fast LaneJones in the Fast Lane is a life simulation game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1990. The objective of the game is to attain certain amounts of money, happiness, status, and education. The exact amounts needed are defined by the player when the game begins...
) - Sonny Bonds (Police QuestPolice QuestPolice Quest is a series of computer games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1993. The original series was composed of four adventure games, the first three of which were designed by former policeman Jim Walls, with the fourth title designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F....
series) - Roger Wilco (Space QuestSpace QuestSpace Quest is a series of six comedic science fiction computer games that follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named Roger Wilco, as he campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice and really clean floors"....
series) - Laura Bow (The Colonel's BequestThe Colonel's BequestThe Colonel's Bequest is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1989. This graphic adventure game was the first of the short-lived Laura Bow Mysteries series created by Roberta Williams and used many elements from the original Mystery House. It was created with SCI0. It uses 4-bit color ...
and The Dagger of Amon RaThe Dagger of Amon RaRoberta Williams' Laura Bow in: The Dagger of Amon Ra is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. The game is the second and final installment in the Laura Bow Mysteries line of adventure games, the first of which was The Colonel's Bequest...
)
Evil guys
- Ad Avis (Quest for Glory II)
- Baba YagaBaba YagaBaba Yaga or Baba Roga is a haggish or witchlike character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle, kidnaps small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs...
(Quest for Glory I) - Lillian (The Colonel's BequestThe Colonel's BequestThe Colonel's Bequest is a computer game published by Sierra On-Line in 1989. This graphic adventure game was the first of the short-lived Laura Bow Mysteries series created by Roberta Williams and used many elements from the original Mystery House. It was created with SCI0. It uses 4-bit color ...
) - Arnoid (Space Quest III)
- Mordack (King's Quest V)
- Mr. Big (Leisure Suit Larry V)
- Lolotte (King's Quest IV)
- Vohaul (Space Quest II)
- Sheriff of NottinghamSheriff of NottinghamThe Sheriff of Nottingham was historically the office responsible for enforcing law and order in Nottingham and bringing criminals to justice. For years the post has been directly appointed by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham and in modern times, with the existence of the police force, the position is...
(Conquests of the LongbowConquests of the LongbowConquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood is a graphic adventure game designed by Christy Marx and published by Sierra On-Line in 1992. It is considered the second part of the Conquests series, which began with Conquests of Camelot...
)
Hoyle 4
Hoyle4, Hoyle Classic Card Games was a remake of Volume I, released with VGA support, speech and original soundtrack. There was a set with 'Classic Characters' to play with and one with an increased number of Sierra characters as well. Load screens involve a silly comments made by the Classic characters, in relationship to whatever game was loading. The number of games was increased to eight, with the inclusion of Contract BridgeContract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
and Euchre
Euchre
Euchre or eucre, is a trick-taking card game most commonly played with four people in two partnerships with a deck of 24 standard playing cards. It is the game responsible for introducing the joker into modern packs; this was invented around 1860 to act as a top trump or best bower...
.
Classic characters:
- Dinky
- Scout
- Crazy Jack
- Trudy
- Josephine
- Billy Joe
- Chip
- Winthorp
- Fairbanks
Sierra characters:
- King Graham
- Pepper
- Willy Beamish
- Larry Laffer
- Quarky
- Laura Bow
- Adam
- Roger Wilco
- Dr. Brain.