Cheap and cheerful

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Video Card Arcade gives you a chance to play three different gambling style card games - all on your own and with no risk of financial ruin.

The first is Poker Royal. You are dealt five cards and have the option of discarding any number of them and having that number re-dealt. Your hand is then valued against a score table. Most of the time you will score zero, but occasionally you may get three cards the same and score a few points.

Each hand costs you one credit point - you start with 20 of these, so you get 20 hands. I was bored with this game before using up my 20 credits.

Next comes Twenty One. This is a version of pontoon which is played against the computer, with a scoring system which means you can get more points for a five card trick or a pontoon. Twenty One is quite playable, but more fun if you use a pack of cards and a human opponent.

The third part of this trilogy is High/Low. This is based on a popular TV game and you must guess whether the next card turned will be higher or lower than the previous one. Again, there is a points system, with lots of points awarded if you get four cards of the same value - a combination which is not actually possible.

In the TV game, contestants are playing for points - and points, of course, make prizes. There is very little fun in this version, with a silly scoring system and no prizes. In fact, I can't really imagine who would want Video Card Arcade.

Rog Frost