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Wheel of Fortune By Pam Gleichman Tribune Media Services "Wheel of Fortune," the top-rated TV game show, is playing on your computer and you get a chance to compete for fantasy cash and prizes. This new and improved high-tech version features over 2,000 word puzzles to solve and there are several puzzle categories, including "Rhymes" and "Before and After". Hosted by Vanna White, the game features several on-location settings such as, Hawaii, New York, Holland and the Wild West. Wheel of Fortune is played in rounds. You can choose to play a standard game (15 minutes), a longer game (20 minutes) or a shorter game (10 minutes). You can also choose a game consisting of three, four or five rounds. Just like the television show, the player with the most money gets to play a bonus round. You can play by yourself, with two computer players or with two friends. You can also play on the Internet, over a LAN or modem. It is just as much fun playing Wheel of Fortune against computer players as it is against your friends. The puzzles are challenging, yet easy enough for most children over 12 to solve. Younger children (8 and up) loved spinning the wheel, choosing letters and trying to solve puzzles. The game did not frustrate them; they wanted to keep trying. Note: We did not test the program over the Internet, modem or through a network. Publisher : Hasbro Interactive, 50 Dunham Road, Beverly, Mass. 61915-1844, (800) 683-5847 http://www.hasbro-interactive.com Category : Games. Age : 12 and up. Installation : We did have some problems when we installed the CD. If your color display is not set to 16-bit color, the program will come on but the screen will be black. The program, however, doesn’t tell you that you need high color. Once the program was installed, and the display settings were correct, we did not have trouble running it. Use : Easy. Graphics : Wonderful. Written Materials : Included on the CD jacket. Tested Version : Windows 95/98 CD-ROM. System Requirements : Windows 95/98; Pentium 90 Mhz CPU or higher; 16 MB RAM; 4X CD-ROM drive; 40 MB free hard drive space; 1 MB SVGA card; sound card. Cost : $29.95. Rating : Four and a half stars. DEAR PAM : My daughter will be 12 soon. I’m having difficulty finding a program that will be both educational and fun for her. She enjoys Jeopardy but, at times, the questions can be challenging even for an adult. What do you suggest? DEAR READER : The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis by Broderbund is a great math program. (She won’t realize she is doing math). Other good programs are Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego Deluxe by Broderbund, Smart Games 1, 2 or 3, and The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain by Sierra. If your daughter is interested in chess, I would recommend Hoyle Board Games by Sierra. It has chess, checkers, Chinese checkers, backgammon, battleship, Mancala, and other popular board games. These games are not very educational, but they're fun and help develop both logic and memory skills. WEB SITE OF THE WEEK THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS http://www.guinnessrecords.com What is the world’s longest bridge? The fastest bird? The well-known book offers those answers and many more at this site. You can even learn how to break a record yourself! RATING KEY : ***** — Outstanding; **** — Very Good; *** — Good; ** — Fair; * — Not Worth Purchasing. Pam Gleichman welcomes questions/comments from readers. Write to Pam at Tribune Media Services, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Send e-mail to pamgl(at)msn.com. � 1999 Tribune Media Services, Inc. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA