Familiar card and board games winners online

By NEIL PORTEN

Game for something traditional rather than tantric? All the old familiar card games and board games, like bridge, cribbage, Monopoly, Scrabble, and backgammon are out of the box and ready to play online.

Graphic sophistication and game-play "feel" vary greatly, and the range of branded and non-proprietary versions of strategy, word, and trivia games is enormous. But it's easy to find a great-looking classic that you can play, in real time, with chat, against other net enthusiasts.

Most games require a reasonably quick download to get started, and extra features like chat and ratings usually need registration of a username and password. But at first you can watch or join the fun simply as a guest.

About.com has two good directory sites that have advice, articles and links to online games and other resources.

Join the property boom that's been going strong since 1935 at Games.com. Monopoly looks great, has prompting from the top-hatted Tycoon, and you can see who owns - and owes - what at a glance. They've only got the US version (there doesn't appear to be an online UK version), so sorry, me old china, there's no Old Kent Road, Kings Cross Station or Mayfair.

Games.com claims its Monopoly is an exclusive online version, but Playsite has an almost identical format. Playsite also lists a similar range of generic and branded games, including a straightforward but faithful form of Scrabble.

As a newbie to online games I thought I'd try two of my favourites: cribbage, the usually two-handed card game, and backgammon, the hit-and-run "aristocrat" of board games. At Microsoft's game site msn Games I found neat versions of both.

I played cribbage by sitting myself across from another player at one of the 150 tables in the game room and waiting for them to accept the challenge.

The dealing and scoring are all automatic and play is as fast as it takes you or your opponent to choose a card. The traditional "pegs in holes" scoring is represented by red and blue waving flags that race around a track curved over the card table.

It's just like playing with my Dad, without trying to remember if turning up a Jack scores for "His Heels" or "His Nobs".

Backgammon was just as much fun, and as a registered player I enjoyed the added bonus of my first-ever online chat. The chitchat was brief: I wanted to win and needed to concentrate, and my geographically ambiguous nickname probably confused poor Country Woman 5 from Holland.

And the results? Online games were the winner on the day - and so was I.

About.com board games

About.com card games

Games.com

Playsite

msn Games