Play Like the Old Days With Mobile Checkers

Get Back to Basics With Checkers

I had always liked to play board games on a Sunday afternoon with my parents and younger siblings. It had been a fun way to pass the time since I always found the weekends pretty boring. Now, as an adult, of course, this is never the case; there always seemed to be a huge array of different fun and exciting things to do. The different games you could get for mobile phones these days is amazing so there is always a ton for me to do. And after trying out all the new and exciting and stimulating games, I decided I wanted something a bit more simple. Well, it was at that point that I got hold of Checkers for my mobile phone and I can honestly say that I have never looked back.

First of all, I really think that the mobile phone version of Checkers is way more exciting than the old game I used to play on a board on the floor on a Sunday afternoon. The graphics in this particular version move quickly and the sounds seem to make the game more exciting. It is an easy game to play, once you have learned the basic rules. This version offers three different difficulty levels to choose from. Obviously (just my personality type) I chose the hardest one first. Well, that turned out to be a mistake as my opponent (you can choose to play against the computer chip in the phone or other mobile phone users; I chose the latter) was WAY better than I was. So that was a bit of a disaster.

Understand Basic Rules

The aim of Checkers is to get rid of all other checkers so that you can prevent your opponent from making any successful move. The black checker gets to move first and the only direction you can both move is forward. The two categories of moves are non-capturing and capturing. With the former, you get to move diagonally from one square to an adjacent square (this doesn't include white squares as they are not used). The latter type enables you to jump but this can only be done when the square behind is empty but the advantage is that multiple jumps can be made. You can even jump again if the situation on the board allows for it (i.e., take two moves in one, or even more).

After I got over my arrogant attitude, I saw that by starting at level 1 and playing consistently, I was really improving my skill set in Checkers. I am currently on level 2 and hope that in a few weeks' time I will progress (successfully and with a chance of winning) to level 3. Check it out; it really is a lot of fun.

Let's go Bowling

Do you like to bowl?

I do. It's a good way to pass the time, and you don't need a lot of skill to enjoy the game. I try to get out to the lanes about once a month, or so, either as a date with my wife or a night with the guys.

So, when I got my new cell phone and started playing with, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the games was a bowling game. I had to try it out.

At first, I wasn't impressed. The game was simple, but the controls were cell phone controls: too complicated for easy use.

To play, all I had to do was position the ball in the lane, choose how strongly to roll it, and set an angle to roll it. It rolled down the lane and hit the pins on its own. The main drawback is that there is no room at all for individual skill; the game program deteremines what happens when the ball hits the pins, so there is no room for fancy shots that can hit 7-10 split. On the other hand, once you figure what combination of settings will hit the 1-2 pocket, there's really no way at all that you can avoid a good score.

Basically, this game is good for mindless entertainment. The sort of entertainment that you need when you standing in line at the bank or the post office for 40 minutes, to carry out a 3 minute transaction that you really should have done by mail a week earlier, except you forgot, and now a personal transaction is required.