Happylucky1

1. Microsoft Entertainment Pack The Puzzle Collection Mac Full
2. Microsoft Entertainment Pack The Puzzle Collection Mac Download

Ten original puzzle types, ranging from quick fixers to brain busters, are included in Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection. Put on your thinking cap for logic puzzles, roll up your sleeves and prepare for eye-hand coordination to handle the action challenges, and engage your brain to outwit the computer in strategic-based contests - but don't overlook good old-fashioned luck!

Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection is a collection of 10 puzzlecomputer games developed by Mir - Dialogue and published by Microsoft Games. The creator of Tetris, Alexey Pajitnov, designed some of the games featured in the pack. It was released on CD-ROM for Windows 95. It was also bundled as part of the Microsoft Plus! Game Pack which was released after Windows Me.

A version was made for the Game Boy Color. It features six of the games from the PC version; Fringer, Charmer, Mixed Genetics, and Muddled Casino have been omitted.^[1]

Presentation[edit]

Each game in the collection runs in a window using 256 colors. They use MIDI background music and digitized sound effects. Controls vary from game to game - each game uses either the keyboard or the mouse.

Games[edit]

• Fringer - Untie all the knots in a stage before a knot is pushed to the bottom of the screen, at which point the game ends.
• Finty Flush - Fill a 4×4 grid with predetermined combinations of marbles before the screen fills up with too many marbles.
• Mixed Genetics - Breed mutated animals in groups of three to create pure animals.
• Rat Poker - Coloured rats enter and walk clockwise around a playing area. Rats will only exit if they line up in specific patterns such as three in a row of the same colour. The player lifts rats off the 'conveyor belt' onto rotating spokes, and then releases them again in the best order so that they will exit and the playing area is not overrun.
• Lineup - Various pentominoes composed of sports balls must be placed on the playing field to form a continuous row from one end to the other. When this is done, all shapes used to form the row will disappear. The game continues until the queue of shapes waiting to be placed fills up.
• Jewel Chase - Steal as much loot as possible before the other, computer-controlled robber does and get to the exit first or you lose. The playing area is a colour maze. At any time a robber occupies a square made up of up to 4 different colours. When the player selects an arrow-key, the robber will move to the nearest square if available in that direction that has a colour in common with the current square. The game can be played in a training mode which allows you to walk the 100 colour mazes collecting all gems without a time limit.
• Color Collision - Control a ray of light and hit sun-like discs of matching colour. Bonuses are scored for hitting discs when they are smiling, 'turned on', or about to explode, etc. depending on the level.
• Charmer - Charm snakes to a vine to make their pots disappear, without letting the lids fall and create another pot.
• Spring Weekend - Arrange the garden critters into a certain pattern before your moves run out. The playing area is a hexagonal grid. By right-clicking or left-clicking on a hexagon position, all 6 adjacent hexagons will rotate clockwise or anti-clockwise respectively.
• Muddled Casino - Figure out how to move the cards off the table in the correct order to beat the house.

Critical reception[edit]

Windows version[edit]

Microsoft Entertainment Pack The Puzzle Collection Mac Full

In Computer Gaming World, Charlotte Panther wrote that The Puzzle Collection 'should please both serious puzzle fans and those looking for an occasional quick-fix.' While she found its graphics lackluster and felt that 'a couple of the puzzles are pretty lame', she summarized it as 'a terrific collection'.^[2]

Electric Games wrote that 'while the games here are entertaining, there is nothing as innovative as [Tetris]'.^[3] Adrenaline Vault said there was 'an unexpected amount of depth to each game in the package and a lot of thought put into the creation of these puzzles', concluding that the pack 'will keep you occupied and entertained for hours on end'.^[3][4]

GBC version[edit]

IGN wrote 'I really enjoy playing Microsoft Puzzle Collection, since each of the games are a lot of fun to pick up and kick around. '^[5] Nintendo Power Magazine decided that 'Chances are, the diversions will hold your attention for only minutes at a time.'^[6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Microsoft Puzzle Collection Entertainment Pack for Game Boy Color (2000)'. MobyGames. Retrieved 18 October 2015. 6 Puzzle Games designed by Alexey Pajitnov, the original Tetris designer, on one Gameboy Color cartridge.
2. ^ ^abPanther, Charlotte. 'The Puzzle King Returneth'. Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on April 16, 1998.
3. ^ ^ab'Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection for Windows (1997) MobyRank - MobyGames'. MobyGames.
4. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2010-05-12. Retrieved 2015-10-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. ^Craig Harris (27 October 2000). 'Microsoft Puzzle Collection'. IGN.
6. ^'Microsoft Puzzle Collection Entertainment Pack for Game Boy Color (2000) MobyRank - MobyGames'. MobyGames.

Microsoft Entertainment Pack is a collection of 16-bitcasual computer games for Windows. There were four Entertainment Packs released between 1990 and 1992. These games were somewhat unusual for the time, in that they would not run under MS-DOS. In 1994, a compilation of the previous four Entertainment Packs were released called The Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack. A Game Boy Color version was released in 2000.

Microsoft advertised Entertainment Packs for casual gaming on office computers. The boxes had slogans like 'No more boring coffee breaks' and 'Only a few minutes between meetings? Get in a quick game of Klotski'. The marketing succeeded; Computer Gaming World in 1992 described the series as 'the Gorillas of the Gaming Lite Jungle', with more than 500,000 copies sold.^[1]

Minesweeper from pack 1 was later bundled with Windows 3.1, and FreeCell was included in Windows 95. WinChess and Taipei, both written by David Norris^[2], received remakes in Windows Vista, called Chess Titans and Mahjong Titans, respectively. Mahjong Titans was replaced with Microsoft Mahjong in Windows 8. Microsoft Solitaire Collection also includes versions of Tut's Tomb (as Pyramid) and TriPeaks.

List of games[edit]

Microsoft Entertainment Pack 1[edit]

• Cruel (a card game)
• Golf (a card game)^[a]
• Minesweeper, written by Rob Donner^[b]
• Pegged (a form of Peg solitaire), written by Mike Blaylock
• Taipei (later known as Mahjong Titans and Microsoft Mahjong)^[a][b]
• Tetris (Windows version)^[a]
• TicTactics (a Tic-tac-toe variant)
• IdleWild (a screensaver program), written by Brad Christian

Microsoft Entertainment Pack 2[edit]

• FreeCell (a card game)^[a][b]
• Jigsawed (a Jigsaw puzzle)
• Pipe Dream (by LucasArts), written by Eric Geyser^[a]
• Rodent's Revenge^[a]
• Stones, developed by Michael C. Miller
• Tut's Tomb (a card game)^[a]
• IdleWild (a screensaver program) - 8 new screen savers for this pack

Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3[edit]

• Fuji Golf
• Life Genesis (based on Conway's Game of Life, with a two-player mode added^{[citation needed]})
• SkiFree, written by Chris Pirih^[a]
• TetraVex^[a]
• TriPeaks (a card game)^[a]
• WordZap (a word game)
• IdleWild (a screensaver program) - 8 new screen savers for this pack

Microsoft Entertainment Pack 4[edit]

• Chess
• Chip's Challenge, written by Chuck Sommerville^[a]
• Dr. Black Jack, a card game created by Mike Blaylock, based on the game of the same name^[a]
• Go Figure!
• JezzBall^[a]
• Maxwell's Maniac
• Tic Tac Drop, a form of Connect Four with quadrilateral, triangular and plus-shaped boards and customizable win pattern and number of rows and columns

The Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack[edit]

The Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack is a collection of 13 games from previous Entertainment Packs. A Game Boy Color version was released in November 2000 in North America and August 2001 in Europe.^[3][4] It was developed by Saffire Corporation and published by Classified Games in North America and Cryo Interactive in Europe.

Development[edit]

Microsoft Entertainment Pack was designed by the company's “Entry Business” team, whose job was to make Windows more appealing to homes and small businesses. Ex-Microsoft product manager Bruce Ryan said the company did this because it 'was concerned that the operating system’s high hardware requirements meant that people would only see it as a tool for large enterprises'.^[5] The project had 'almost no budget', and no major video game publishers got involved because they doubted Windows' legitimacy as a gaming platform; therefore Ryan compiled a series of games that Windows employees had been working on in their spare time.^[6] According to Microsoft FreeCell developer Jim Horne, the packs were not copy protected so customers could distribute copies to friends, to encourage using Windows for games. As payment, each author received ten shares of Microsoft stock.^[7]

For much of the early 1990s, the Gamesampler, a subset of the Entertainment Pack small enough to fit on a single high-density disk, was shipped as a free eleventh disk added to a ten-pack of Verbatim blank 3.5' microfloppy diskettes. Games on the sampler included Jezzball, Rodent's Revenge, Tetris, and Skifree. A 'Best of' disk of several of the games was also available at times as a mail-in premium from Kellogg's cereals.^[8]

All games being 16-bit run on modern 32-bit versions of Windows but not on 64-bit Windows. Support for all versions of Microsoft Entertainment Pack ended on January 31, 2003.

In the copies of Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000source code which leaked in 2004, there are 32-bit versions of Cruel, Golf, Pegged, Reversi, Snake (Rattler Race), Taipei and TicTactics.^[9] However, FreeCell and Minesweeper have had official 32-bit versions bundled even with early versions of Windows NT. The original game developers of some of the games such as SkiFree,^[10] TriPeaks,^[11] and WordZap^[12] now offer 32-bit versions. Third party developers have also created 32-bit freeware clones of Klotski,^[13]TetraVex^[14]Rodent's Revenge,^[15] and Tetris.^[16]

Microsoft Entertainment Pack The Puzzle Collection Mac Download

Reception[edit]

Digital Trends noted, 'For many, the simple but enjoyable games found in the Entertainment Pack provided a first taste of early PC gaming and served as a gateway to more complex classics.'^[17]PC World described the pack as having 'standout time-wasters'.^[18]

See also[edit]

• Microsoft Entertainment Pack: The Puzzle Collection – a later 32-bit collection for Windows 95

Notes[edit]

1. ^ ^{abcdefghijklm}Included in Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack
2. ^ ^abcBundled in some later versions of Windows

References[edit]

1. ^'Welcome To Gaming Lite'. Computer Gaming World. September 1992. p. 74. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
2. ^https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Ziggurat
3. ^'Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack preview'. IGN. Ziff Davis. June 9, 2000. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
4. ^'Microsoft: The Best of Entertainment Pack – Release Details'. GameFAQs. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
5. ^http://www.businessinsider.com.au/bill-gates-was-a-microsoft-minesweeper-addict-2015-8
6. ^http://www.businessinsider.com.au/bill-gates-was-a-microsoft-minesweeper-addict-2015-8
7. ^Dear, Brian (2017). '27. Leaving the Nest'. The Friendly Orange Glow. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 502–503. ISBN9781101871560.
8. ^Vincent, Brittany (April 6, 2018). 'Remembering SkiFree, and the Yeti that still haunts our dreams'. PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
9. ^'We Are Morons: a quick look at the Win2k source'. Kuro5hin.org. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2012.^{[dead link]}
10. ^Chris (February 10, 2010). 'The most officialest SkiFree homepage'. Ski.ihoc.net. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
11. ^'TriPeaks Homepage'. Rhogue.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
12. ^'Classic WordZap'. Wordzap.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
13. ^'Klotski homepage'. Phil.freehackers.org. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
14. ^'Tetravex Game in Delphi'. Delphi.about.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
15. ^'Rodent's Revenge 2000'. Web.archive.org. August 22, 2007. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2012.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
16. ^'CrystalOffice Games'. Crystaloffice.com. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
17. ^http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/microsoft-entertainment-pack-retrospective/
18. ^http://www.pcworld.com/article/2911942/classic-puzzler-chips-challenge-and-an-unreleased-sequel-hitting-steam-in-may.html

External links[edit]

• Microsoft Entertainment Pack series at MobyGames