# Recommend me a basic simple game... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2002, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475 "2002-11-29T08:07:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/1 "2002-11-29T08:07:12Z")
Ok, I’m at work for the next 6 hours. I have a decent PC, but nothing crazy. I got burned out on NetHack a while back, and am not yet ready to undertake that one again. I used to have a game that was all text where you’re the King of Babylon. I’m looking for basic games like that… simple, maybe strategy. And they have to be small. Not much room here. And I have to be able to get them off the net. Suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/2 "2002-11-29T08:26:40Z")
I’m sorry, didn’t you say you were at work? Is your job testing computer games? ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/3 "2002-11-29T08:38:29Z")
No, but there’s no production today. I’m bored out of my mind. The policy is “As long as work gets done and it’s not porn, we don’t care what you do.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/4 "2002-11-29T12:03:31Z")
Funny. In my line of work, internet porn is a prerequisite. ---
**Author:** ![Improbability](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Improbability](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improbability)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/5 "2002-11-29T12:35:46Z")
What about some of the normal games found on your PC under programs? I used to play a lot of _Freecell_ a while back. Internet games, I’m not so up to date with. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/6 "2002-11-29T13:14:41Z")
Used to be that you could download a pretty good demo of the Caesar III class of games (they have a lot more built on the same engine nowadays). I did that once during a slow time at work and it kept me going for many hours. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/7 "2002-11-29T13:16:13Z")
Another free demo download: [http://www.microsoft.com/games/ageofmythology/greek\_downloads.asp#trial](http://www.microsoft.com/games/ageofmythology/greek_downloads.asp#trial) ---
**Author:** ![CyberPundit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/8 "2002-11-29T16:07:19Z")
Well you probably know about it but you can play Chess or Checkers and many other games online on Yahoo. > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! ---
**Author:** ![silverfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@silverfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silverfish)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/9 "2002-11-29T16:14:54Z")
I’d recommend Gridrunner++. It’s a simple enough shoot-em-up, but is loads of fun. You can get the demo here, and it’s only a 2.8 Meg download. [http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/Gridrunner/grdl.html](http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/Gridrunner/grdl.html) ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/10 "2002-11-29T18:16:41Z")
I used to work at a place with a similar policy, and since I worked nights I had about 6 hours of free time every workday (I took about 4 - 6 calls a night, most of them under 15 minutes). I used to play the hell out of Ancient Domains of Mystery (go to [www.adom.de](http://www.adom.de)) but if you are burned out on Nethack you might not feel like learing a new Rogue-like game (though I feel ADOM is far superior to Nethack). It’s got random dungeons and the like but it structured like more modern RPGs (with an overworld map and many non-random areas, lots of quests, towns, etc.), and it has 10 races and 20 character classes, with no restrictions on combining them. Wonderful game, but it takes a while to learn, especially as the controls are different from most Rogue-like games in many ways. What I liked doing was making unusual race/class combinations. There is a different starting equipment kit for nearly every combination, too - a dwarven cleric starts out with a blessed axe and plate mail, an orcish cleric has lighter armor but a magical torch and club, halfling archers start with slings, gnomish archers with crossbows, stuff like that. Made experimenting with different combinations even more fun, and made strange stuff like halfling barbarians seem more plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/11 "2002-11-29T18:34:55Z")
Wow, I just tried the latest version of ADOM and it’s added a lot to the character creation system, it’s a lot less random and there are a bunch of special perks you can choose, kinda like in Fallout or Arcanum. I had a gray elf barbarian that just kicked butt all the way to level 5 since I made that last post. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/12 "2002-11-29T18:40:52Z")
A little juvenile in places, but still worth a damn overall… [www.candystand.com](http://www.candystand.com) ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/13 "2002-11-29T20:34:31Z")
10 PRINT “Are you cool Y or N” 20 b$ 30 if b$=Y goto 50 40 if b$=N goto 50 PRINT “What is your Name” 60 a$ 70 PRINT a$ “is cool!!!” 80 PRINT “YOU ARE A NERD” 90 GOTO 80 Sorry I thought you meant a BASIC game ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/14 "2002-11-30T01:02:21Z")
10 INPUT “Are you cool (Y or N)”;A$ 20 IF A$=N GOTO 50 30 INPUT “What is your name”;B$ 40 PRINT B$;" is cool!!!" 50 PRINT “YOU ARE A NERD”; 60 GOTO 50 Cleaned it up and improved it a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Gartog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/22d042/32.png) [@Gartog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gartog)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/15 "2002-11-30T15:48:39Z")
rolf. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![ThreeLeggedBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThreeLeggedBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThreeLeggedBob)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/16 "2002-12-01T00:10:04Z")
Okay, advertising myself. Download from here: [http://pages.prodigy.net/larry.html](http://pages.prodigy.net/larry.html) ---
**Author:** ![ZooMetropolis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e480ec/32.png) [@ZooMetropolis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZooMetropolis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/17 "2002-12-01T00:32:42Z")
I liked a little game called sokoban… it’s a puzzle game. You can download this game and a lot more from here: [http://www.classic-trash.com](http://www.classic-trash.com) ---
**Author:** ![ZooMetropolis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e480ec/32.png) [@ZooMetropolis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZooMetropolis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/18 "2002-12-01T00:35:52Z")
Oh and I forgot about the best puzzle game ever made (IMO): [SUPAPLEX!!!](http://elmerproductions.com/sp) I don’t know how much HD it occupies, but i remember playing it with 5 1/4 floppys in my 286 ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/19 "2002-12-01T12:35:55Z")
Also advertising “myself”, I don’t own it but I play there. This is an online, text based, roleplay game. It is like a text adventure (similar to what you mentioned in the op) but there are a load of other people playing along with you 🙂 [www.valheru.com](http://www.valheru.com) You can access it with telnet, which means you don’t have to download anything at all, if you like you can download a client that is about 1 meg that would make it more visually appealing to play. We have a ball most of the time, and the other players are a good bunch. To connect straight away go to the website and click \* telnet://mud.valheru.com:4242 \*, or just pump that link there right into your browser window. Follow the instructions 🙂 Best advice for when you land in the world is to type the following: say help me newbie guide You will then be given an interactive tour. Welcome and enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475/20 "2002-12-01T16:05:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*10 INPUT “Are you cool (Y or N)”;A$ > 20 IF A$=N GOTO 50 > 30 INPUT “What is your name”;B$ > 40 PRINT B$;" is cool!!!" > 50 PRINT “YOU ARE A NERD”; > 60 GOTO 50 > > Cleaned it up and improved it a bit. \*\* _cough_ 20 If A$= **“N”** GOTO 50 plus **45 END** Else you get that repeated string no matter how you answer. Also nice would be: 25 IF A$\<\>“Y” THEN PRINT “Invalid input”: GOTO 10 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-basic-simple-game/139475.md?page=2)