Sierra has been putting out Hoyle computer games since I've had my Tandy 1000SX. Now for most people they aren't much of anything special. Just card games or board games. This particular release is nothing different, just a more graphically enhanced game. Some of the card games included in this set are War, Poker, Go Fish, Cribbage and 30 different types of Solitaire.

Graphics - 11/20
The point of this game is not the graphics but rather the artificial intelligence of the computer players you play the games against. All in all, the graphics aren't bad, but they are nothing special. There are some good graphical effects that look cool especially in Hoyle's 2D environment. There is this one part when you play the game "WAR", your tanks shoot the other player's tanks if you win the individual war. The other teams tanks end up blowing up if you win, it's pretty nice looking. It's little things like this that add a nice touch to the game.

Sound - 10/15
The sounds isn't that great, but they appear in many places throughout the game. Whether its the sound of the tanks shooting in "War" or the sounds of cards shuffling in Solitaire. Most people will say "What is the point of those sounds?" Well I don't know but I enjoy sound in games, even if its the slightest of sound, it adds a lot to the game. Maybe I like having yet another one of the five senses involved but I think the sounds in Hoyle Card Games 2 are definitely helping the playability of the game.

Gameplay - 27/30
The game is what it is, nothing less. It is card games, and I think it depicts the card games very well. The artificial intelligence is a little lacking, I mean its not really that hard to beat the computer players, but when dealing with cards a lot of it is "luck-of-the-draw". If you are bored or just enjoy playing fun, simple, time wasting games, Hoyle Classic Card Games 2 is the game for you. It is extremely simple to choose the game you want to play and it has a very nice interface. Unlike a lot of games which are easy to figure out how to play, HCCG2 is not childish. It doesn't have any cartoon dogs running around. It is purely well designed and setup well.

Boredom Factor - 15/20
I call this the boredom factor because this game isn't really that much fun. It is boring, but...I think it serves its purpose. People don't play card games because they are extremely fun and exciting. They play them to waste time because they are bored doing something else. I think this is true with the exception of "Casino" card games such as Poker or BlackJack. This game does a very good job of eliminating boredom.

Multiplayer - 4/5
Now I know what your saying, 'how can a card game have multiplayer?' Well even I was surprised but HCCG2 has a very good multiplayer system. It starts out with the most simplistic of multiplayer where you place 2 people on the same computer against each other. Also included is the ability to play many of the games against opponents from around the world using WON(World Opponent Network) at http://www.won.net.

Overall Impresson - 7/10
I really think this game is well done. I am not saying it is for everyone but I think you might find it entertaining, and a good way to relieve some of the extra time you might have on your hands. It is nice to get away from all these fast paced games sometimes and go back to a much more simplistic stress free environment.