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What Hoyle Games 2007 should've been...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 59 / 61
Date: October 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As anyone who bought Hoyle Card Games 2007 is aware, it wasn't exactly the most... stable program in existence. It had a lot of sound problems--sound effects wouldn't play reliably on newer computers, the background music would play the first few seconds over and over, the animation lip-sync was like a really bad Japanimation.

This new version fixes all that (at least for me) and in a way I'm slightly irritated this wasn't a free upgrade for 2007 users. While the sound effects aren't absolutely crucial, playing the game in silence isn't much fun either.

The game is largely unchanged from 2007 (and from what I've read it's very similar to the 2006 version). I don't mind that; there wasn't anything really wrong with the basic design, it was just the screwed-up sound effects which made it a pain. It has the same face creator, same characters, same voices, same comments (though the comments do seem to be a bit more relevant and focused).

Most of the characters are so annoying that I end up playing with the bear, T-Rex and "Chloe" the workout trainer. They're harmless when the player comments are turned off, and the bear makes me laugh when he tumbles over about six times in a row (he really needs to lay off the fermented honey).

New games include respectable video poker, video blackjack and video "Texas Hold'em" emulations, and a separate program called "Miami Solitaire" with a ton of solitare variations--and, believe it or not, a story mode. I don't play much solitaire so I haven't looked at it very closely, but it might be interesting.

I mostly bought Hoyle 2008 because it has a decent Canasta game. There are standalone Canasta programs available from other companies, but they aren't nearly as much fun to play (all of the ones I've tried have annoying sound effects, poor graphics, odd game variations, etc.) Many of the other Hoyle 2008 games are pretty good, and there are only a few I'd rate as "this is really bad". Some standalone card/solitaire games cost as much as Hoyle; if you are interested in only a few of the games it offers I'd say it's worth the money.

Be aware that Hoyle 2008 comes on DVD, and uses SecuROM 7.x copy protection in a fruitless attempt to make you keep the disc in the drive when you play it.

Perfect for your mac!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 28
Date: October 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I think Hoyle has finally hit their stride.

For years, Hoyle was not compatible with Macs. This year they are. I can't tell you how happy I was to find this out!

For years, you had to keep the CD in the drive. What a pain that was. Now you don't have to. All I can say is, that is so good, it should be wrapped around a side of beef! (Thanks Marvin!)

I love everything about this game. I love the Marvin the T-rex, Harley the Bear, and Captain Scurvy the Parrot. They make me laugh with all their funny comments. And the other characters are pretty funny too. About the only character I don't like is Hedda. But everyone else is great.

And the games are incredibly fun and addicting. I waste hours every night playing this after work. Get it, but only if you like having fun!

Finally Compatible with Mac OS X

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: October 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've loved the Hoyle game series (Card Games, Casino, and Puzzle & Board Games)for many years. But, the last Mac versions were released in 2002 and were only compatible with OS 9. These older versions were still playable on pre-Intel Macs, but the newer Macs with Intel chips no longer have compatibility with pre-Mac OS X software.

Finally, the long wait is over and new versions of the excellent Hoyle Games are available for today's Mac users! :-)

Idiosycrasies.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: November 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Hello,
In general this seems to be a good card game disc. The graphics are good and the responses are good. I will admit that I am not deeply into PC card games, mostly Bridge and some solitaire variations. In these there are some idiosycrasies. In Bridge you cannot exit the card game upon completion of a rubber using the red X. If you call up a new Bridge game, then you can exit using the red X. A minor thing, but why?
In some of the solitaire games, Penguin for example, one cannot tell which suit a card is on some of the cards (aces for example are all bad) because the card stack covers too much of the card. This is not only inconvenient, but introduces a difficulty not intended. Before I changed to a standard deck ALL of the suits were covered!
Les W.

Better than 2006.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It is much better and has more games than 2006. I didn't buy the 2007 one because of all the problems with it. No problems with this one. I use it on Windows XP Home edition. It does use a 1 gigabyte of hard drive space (says it does). New games with it to.

Great Game! Still has bugs...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've been playing card games under the Hoyle name since the early 90s. the current versions are a far cry better than the originals (I think you might have had to put the floppy disk in the computer to get the game to play... definitely old school...)

Anyways, I'm VERY happy that this is finally supported on the Mac platform, since any of the other card game programs for the Mac seem to be about the same level of graphics that the early 90s Hoyle card games had when I played them on a Tandy 1000... The interface is a whole lot more fun than the Masque games that are available for the Mac.

I had to downgrade it to only 4 stars, though because there are several significant bugs in the underpinnings. Hoyle Bucks do not work in Cribbage (which is a real bummer for me, since that's my favorite game). Cribbage statistics are also not accrued. This has been a problem since the 2005 AND 2006 iteration of the game (played on a Dell before switching to Mac), so you'd think that they would have fixed it by now. And every time I start a new session and play the solitaire game "Penguin" it gives me the same deal, which since it's a fairly easy hand to win, I don't mind the extra [...] Hoyle Bucks for winning it every time. Hm... maybe I should start timing myself on it and competing with myself to see how quickly I can win the same hand.... At least all the subsequent games are different. I have contacted Encore's support with questions about these bugs, but so far have gotten no response.

The video poker and video blackjack are fairly entertaining new additions.

Overall, an excellent computer card game. Perhaps Hoyle should find a new programmer, though. One with some attention to detail this time?

encore inproves

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Hello Encore has improved all card, board, puzzle and casino 2006 titles had sound problems and animations lip syche was off and the soundtrack got stuck in a loop so I went back to the 2005 version. As to new content and face maker nothing new, some new games and new theme song for card game and new theme song for the board and puzzle and new soundtracks in both. Still it is much better then the 2006 versions the card theme is a great tune and I found myself toe taping to the tune.

Hoyle returns for Mac OSX!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: February 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Shuffle the cards and get ready to deal yourself in.... I am so happy that Hoyle finally updated their card games software to include Mac, but I do have to say "shame on Hoyle" for neglecting updating to OSX and making Mac users wait so long.
I used to play on the old software in classic mode, but once you update your hardware past a a certain point it won't work. But never fear -- all the same games and characters from the old version are back and are as mouthy as ever.

I have been using this software for several weeks now and I have not had one glitch or anything.... I also love the fact that you don't need to have the CD in the drive to play anymore. That is a great improvement.
I like the new Face Creator and I like the concept of being able to unlock other aspects of the games, although obtaining Hoyle Bucks is way too easy.

This is a good software value - hours and hours and hours of gameplay.

dosen't work

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: October 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I got this game I tryed it on a windows vista and windows xp pc it didn't work on either one I got a replacement and it didn't work either so I can't give it a good review maybe someone else will have better luck then me THANK YOU!

Hoyle Card Games 2008

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game to replace Hoyle Classic Card Games, and was disappointed that many features I liked have disappeared. My main interest was bridge, but I don't like this version at all. Re-play hand and re-bid were good features for skill development and they're not there anymore. I'll have to buy a program devoted exclusively to bridge. Other games such as cribbage, gin and euchre seem to be pretty good.

They went to a lot of trouble for character creation so you can customize your image: different hair styles and colors, features, accessories, etc. Not important to me.

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