CHRISTMAS (ALREADY?) COMPETITION

Dear Editor,

May I propose a Christmas competition for the next edition of the Newsletter?

The computer games I have seen (Hangman, Mastermind, Moon-Lander) involve a personal confrontation between a computer and a human being, whose intellectual capabilities are put to some kind of test.

With the festive season in mind, I should like to see a prize offered for a different kind of game – one that can be really enjoyed by a group of mildly intoxicated non-computer-people.

The game must therefore satisfy the following criteria:–

1. It must be original.
2. It must involve several participants.
3. The rules must be simple, and must be displayed by the program.
4. The result must not depend directly on the skill of the participants.
5. The screen display must be easy to understand from a distance.
6. Input must not involve much typing skill.
7. A typical game must not last longer than, say, give minutes.
8. The game must be suitable for family entertainment.
9. The program must run on a minimum Nascom 1.

As obvious candidate is some variation on the old game of Consequences (“aaa met bbb at ccc; he said to her‘ddd’; she said to him ‘eee’; and the consequence was fff.”) However, this is literally vieux jeu, and I am sure that your members could come up with something more original which could contribute to the hilarity of Christmas parties throughout the country.

Yours sincerely,

T.P. Goldingham,
Maidenhead