Review: Yacht

Score:
81%

Author: Zingmagic

Version Reviewed: 2.00(02)F

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A long time ago I reviewed a version of Yahtzee with the in-depth text of “I like it. It plays Yahtzee and doesn't do anything bad to your 7650.” S60 applications have moved on since then, and it was a pleasant surprise to see Zingmagic’s Yacht come over this reviewer’s desk. While it has been renamed, this is not only the classic game of dice, but a perfect mobile game as well.

Why? Well, let’s look at the mobile aspect first. What you need is a good game that you can pick up and put down at will, not worry about where you are in the game, but it also has to stand up to being played for a long period (on the order of 15-20 minutes). And in my opinion, Yacht manages all that. Each game is made up of 13 rounds, and in each round you roll up to five dice to get the best hand. These are predominantly trying to get as many dice showing the same number as possible, with two ‘runs’ of numbers (1-2-3-4, etc), and a full house (three of one number, two of another). So yes, you could play just one or two rounds of a thirteen round game, or play a trench of games on a long journey.

So onto Zingmagic’s interpretation, and it's slick. On first opening the application, you’re taken directly to the game screen, which is simply your scoring pad, a row of dice, and your current score. As the game is score based, I see no problem with this approach – although the 3d representations of the dice can seem a bit small on the basic S60 176x208 screens – it would be nice to maybe have a top down representation for those of us whose eyes have been destroyed staring at tiny pixels over the years.

Going straight to the game means that it’s not until you start a new game that you realise you can set up Yacht for more than one player. This is vitally important, given the high score table, so it’s an easy matter to have your name, your partner's, and anyone who might borrow your phone on the aforementioned long trips. Because that high score table can be criminally addictive.

The reason for this is the additional bonus score system that’s been added by Zingmagic. Traditionally in Yahtzee, if you can score 63 or more in section one (six scores made up of the total of 1’s, 2’s 3’s, 4’s 5’s and 6’s) you get a bonus 35 points. Here, you have the option scoring a hand early. Rather than use all three dice rolls per round, if you score a hand after only one roll, you get 10 bonus points. Score after two and you get 5 bonus points. This adds a massive amount of strategy to the game, because you have to balance the loss of guaranteed bonus points against the chance of getting a better hand.

Playing the game is pretty smooth, with you controlling the dice selection and rolling purely through the cursor, but given the bonus available for scoring earl, perhaps having the option to jump to the score table should have been placed directly onto a soft key, rather than the second option in the menu structure. This slows down arguably the stand out feature of the game, but it’s not enough to spoil anything else.

Yes it is a traditional game, and there are a lot of versions out there, but I’m a sucker for Yahtzee. Zingmagic have (yet again) added on a slick user interface, good controls, and a little bit of spin to make it different, without destroying the original idea. Recommended.

Reviewed by Ewan Spence at 12:24 UTC, August 30th 2006