Download Hoyle Official Book of Games - Volume 3

Hoyle is a name best known for the various books that compiled rules for numerous card, dice, board, and token-style games, also known as "Classic Games." Hoyle Volume 3 covers a few table-top and board games.

For beginners who may have never heard of any of these games, there are complete rules provided within the games themselves.

Hoyle Volume 3 includes:
Checkers
Backgammon
Dominoes
Snakes & Ladders
Yacht (Yahtzee)
Pachisi (Parcheesi)

The Hoyle volumes were released through the Sierra company, and you may recognize some of the "Characters" that you can play as, or have as opponents, as many come from other Sierra titles. Each one advertises their "game" when you select them as opponents. Some of them are beginners and can be beaten easily, once you know the rules of the game, while others are quite skilled and cunning, making them a challenge even for experts. The player has the choice of playing against "Good Guys" (Easy) or "Bad Guys" (Hard). Each character has little animations, such as a smiling face when something goes their way and a frowning face when something goes against them. The animations are simple, but neither add to nor detract from the playing experience.

The game is played completely with the mouse. Moving the cursor to the top of the screen brings up the in-game menu for changing games, reading rules, and altering in-game settings.

The sound is better than in the previous two volumes of Hoyle; some relaxing background music that sounds right out of a Sierra adventure game keeps the player entertained. Unfortunately, the background music is only for the main menu, as the games have no music while playing.

Hot-seat play is available for the various games, except for Dominoes, which has to be played against the computer.

Hoyle Volume 3 allows players to learn and play some of the more common table-top and board games. Hot-seat makes it possible to play against friends, which is always a plus.