SURFING THE WEB

Games for Relaxing

By: Dick Travis

Your computer and the world wide web specifically offers a tremendous opportunity to relax with an unlimited array of games for our personal or interactive experience. If you are the competitive type or if you have a particular skill in Bridge, Blackjack or various educational games, you will love the variety of games available.

We are all familiar with the classic computer games that come with our computer—Solitaire and Freecell. Solitaire actually is Microsoft’s way of training new users how to use the mouse. Freecell is a slightly more complicated form of Solitaire which is fun to play, especially when you can put the game in a separate window, while working with other windows.

However, the real fun is on-line.

I’m not referring about those folks, both young and old, who are practically professional in their obsession of mastering the high-profile computer games, with their attendant massive computer memories and storage. They actually have national conventions where thousands of “gamers” meet to compete against each other.

For the rest of us, on-line games come in several different groups. There are the classic “card games” and “board” games that we are all familiar with—Bridge, Blackjack, Canasta, Backgammon, Chess, etc. You will find an infinite number of arcade and puzzle games for almost any age on the internet. And there are the fantasy sports games that attract hundreds of thousands of sport fans, who set up their own “office pools” through Yahoo or other outlets.

Bridge attracts a large number of people who play in special on-line sites such as OK Bridge. There is a game going on somewhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! You can stop in for a hand or two or play with friends anytime. There is a $9 per month fee at this time.

Blackjack games attract hordes of people to the on-line casinos… You can play with “real money” too, although I wouldn’t recommend it. All of the Las Vegas games are available at Casino on the Net. This site has realistic graphics and you can play at a private table or with other people. Casino on the Net is a good place to practice your Keno, Slots or Carribean Poker, before an actual trip to Vegas.

Backgammon is very popular either playing against a computer or in on-line match ups around the world. I used to play quite extensively and remember communicating with an Italian man about his family and job. He actually looked up my personal web-site as we were playing Backgammon and I was directed to his company’s web-site as we played the game. It was not only fun, but educational.

Many educational sites use arcade type games to stimulate your vocabulary or knowledge about various subjects. I like to play an arcade game called “Fowl Words” where you have to come up with words from a list of scrambled letters. Try it, it is on my web-site.

Yahoo also has a very extensive list of games, mostly interactive and loads of fun. Just go to Yahoo games and pick your favorite game, call or email your friends and have them join you in a special room. See you in the Yahoo game rooms…I have been playing Fantasy NBA with a group of 8 people for years on Yahoo. We actually have on-line drafts of NBA players every year at an appointed time. I hope to win this year’s championship after the actual 82-game NBA basketball schedule ends, ‘cause I drafted Shaq for my team!

Using your computer and the web to relax and improve your skills can be very enjoyable for everyone. You don’t have to be a “gamer” to enjoy all the personal games and even meet and compete with on-line friends around the world from your home. Have fun and relax with your computer and enjoy the web.

Email me at dtravis2@cox.net or call at (760) 724-4091