Word type games for disabled access

[mike ring]

Hello all

I hope you will be able to help.

My sister has been totally disabled for about twenty years with MS; but
she is now getting computer access with specialist equipment.

She is no chicken - (a year older than me, and I'm retired), and pretty
bright, but is new to computers and to her software.

I would like to get her some games for Christmas, but the whole process
has been delayed and it's not yet clear how effective her equipment and
ability will be.

So can anyone suggest some games; word games would be fine, she has some
crosswords, but what about hangman, anagrams, one person scrabble (is
there such a thing?)

Card games; jigsaw puzzles (are they out there?);

I don't think she'll be up to moving target type games, like Tetris, yet,
but logical block games that don't require sharpshooting might be nice;

and any other sorts folks think might suit.

I know I'm open to the claim I could find these for myself, but there's
so much out there, I couldn't sort them out, test their suitability, make
a selection and burn to a disk in the time available.

So I would be very grateful for any help on this, and so will she.

And God help us all when she gets up and running on usenet

mike r

 

[a]

My sister has been totally disabled for about twenty years with MS; but
she is now getting computer access with specialist equipment.

She is no chicken - (a year older than me, and I'm retired), and pretty
bright, but is new to computers and to her software.

I would like to get her some games for Christmas, but the whole process
has been delayed and it's not yet clear how effective her equipment and
ability will be.

So can anyone suggest some games; word games would be fine, she has some
crosswords, but what about hangman, anagrams, one person scrabble (is
there such a thing?)

Card games; jigsaw puzzles (are they out there?);

I don't think she'll be up to moving target type games, like Tetris, yet,
but logical block games that don't require sharpshooting might be nice;

and any other sorts folks think might suit.

I know I'm open to the claim I could find these for myself, but there's
so much out there, I couldn't sort them out, test their suitability, make
a selection and burn to a disk in the time available.

So I would be very grateful for any help on this, and so will she.

And God help us all when she gets up and running on usenet

Whats the machine spec? What OS?

 

[mike ring]

Whats the machine spec? What OS?

Sorry, forgot that - W98SE, fairly good memory and speed, don't know
exactly how good, but the games I have in mind won't tax it.

Running off CD with no install would be nice, but equally if she likes them
an install would be no problem. I honestly don't know which type would be
better, so I'd like both.

Personal experience of the games would be a great help, as there's no real
way I can assess many for myself in the time.

(It's so difficult to get anything for her because of her condition this is
also my chance to be a star!)

mike r

 

[Sietse Fliege]

Hello all

I hope you will be able to help.

My sister has been totally disabled for about twenty years with MS;
but she is now getting computer access with specialist equipment.

She is no chicken - (a year older than me, and I'm retired), and
pretty bright, but is new to computers and to her software.

I would like to get her some games for Christmas, but the whole
process has been delayed and it's not yet clear how effective her
equipment and ability will be.

So can anyone suggest some games; word games would be fine, she has
some crosswords, but what about hangman, anagrams, one person
scrabble (is there such a thing?)

Card games; jigsaw puzzles (are they out there?);

I don't think she'll be up to moving target type games, like Tetris,
yet, but logical block games that don't require sharpshooting might
be nice;

and any other sorts folks think might suit.

I know I'm open to the claim I could find these for myself, but
there's so much out there, I couldn't sort them out, test their
suitability, make a selection and burn to a disk in the time
available.

So I would be very grateful for any help on this, and so will she.

And God help us all when she gets up and running on usenet

mike r

You may want to check out: Free Electronic Jigsaw Puzzles
(courtesy of The Fahrney Memorial Home for the Aged)

http://www.fkmh.org/freebies.htm

Various puzzle sizes and configurations are offered to satisfy everyone
from the beginner to the addicted puzzler. New puzzles are added weekly.
All puzzles are created from original photography.
Smaller puzzles can of course be played on PC's with higher display
settings. When in doubt, choose the smaller puzzles.

 

[Frank Hahn]

You may want to check out: Free Electronic Jigsaw Puzzles
(courtesy of The Fahrney Memorial Home for the Aged)

http://www.fkmh.org/freebies.htm

Various puzzle sizes and configurations are offered to satisfy everyone
from the beginner to the addicted puzzler. New puzzles are added
weekly.
All puzzles are created from original photography.
Smaller puzzles can of course be played on PC's with higher display
settings. When in doubt, choose the smaller puzzles.

Depending on how much use of her hands she has, she might like sokoban. It
can be found here:

http://members.lycos.nl/sokoban/

You move marbles around obstacles, etc to a home base. It does not require
the quick reflexes like an arcade game. Also requires quite a bit of
thinking to get the marbles moved.

As far as card games go, I think the best is pysol. It is hard to find in
a Windows executable. A search of google.com should help there. An
offshoot of pysol is called pysolitaire. It can be found here:

http://pygames.sourceforge.net/

It is a large download. You also need to install the Python programming
language first. Both are free though. The advantage to pysolitaire is
that includes that card games that pysol includes and it also includes some
mahjongg type games.

Hope this helps.

 

[Maureen Goldman]

There are Scrabble games against a computer opponent, if that's what
you mean. Networdz is free, although it may have been removed by
Hasbro since it is a Scrabble copy. I realize you posted your question
alt.comp.freeware, but I've seen genuine Scrabble CDs in cereal boxes
and for sale at $5.00 at www.puzzleblog.com, so the real thing is very
affordable. (There's a downloadable patch for the CD, also a nocd
patch used in combination with a full install if it is a problem
putting in the CD.)

 

[Susan Bugher]

There are Scrabble games against a computer opponent, if that's what
you mean. Networdz is free, although it may have been removed by
Hasbro since it is a Scrabble copy. I realize you posted your question
alt.comp.freeware, but I've seen genuine Scrabble CDs in cereal boxes
and for sale at $5.00 at www.puzzleblog.com, so the real thing is very
affordable. (There's a downloadable patch for the CD, also a nocd
patch used in combination with a full install if it is a problem
putting in the CD.)

Networdz is still available. A nice app, I've used it and like it. There
was a request for a scrabble game earlier this month - here's a repeat
of a post I made then:

Networdz

http://www.zamazam.com.au/scrabble/

http://www.zamazam.com.au/scrabble/scrabblesetup.exe
(763 KB)

http://www.zamazam.com.au/scrabble/instructions.pdf
(465 KB)

*says* online but I DL and installed it - works fine.

info saved from newsgroup posts:

I, too, find Networdz fun. However, like you I find the computers use of
some wordz to be disconcerting to say the least. Can you puh-leez explain
to me just how you edited the .DCT files.

Networdz, used as presents some problems. I now use my own dictionary
without the many obscure words and the words unsuitable for the kids.

You can either export the dictionary to a ascii file and delete unwanted
words - but that is too time consuming. Instead look for other programs
that have ascii wordlist and you can import that. Then add whatever
words on the fly when you play. Note that there should be no blank
lines, no repetitions and max length is 12 chars.

The main beauty of the program is that it is entirely configurable,
alter net2.cfg to your hearts content and try. You can make a custom
10x10 array or if you have a 17" monitor try a 25x25

--------------

It is so simple to create a dictionary acceptable to you. You can import
any text file as a dictionary subject tot he following conditions:

1. Only one word per line.
2. Maximum characters per word is 12.
3. No word should be repeated
4. Only ASCII chars A-Z allowed.

There are plenty of files in the web, even in your machine. TLX files in
Eudora are text files and just remove the words that do not meet the
above requirements and import the file. The original DCT file
overwritten. Then you can add words on the fly.

I started with a file of about 2000 words and now it has come to about
2700 by just adding while playing. And I have absolutely no problem with
kids playing the game.

</q>

Susan
-
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
PL2003: http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/about2003PL.htm
PL2004 Review: http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php
alt.comp.freeware FAQ (short) - maintained by John F.
http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html

 

[Susan Bugher]

So can anyone suggest some games; word games would be fine, she has some
crosswords, but what about hangman, anagrams, one person scrabble (is
there such a thing?)

Card games; jigsaw puzzles (are they out there?);

And God help us all when she gets up and running on usenet

Hi Mike, a few URLs to apps I've tried (the jigsaw puzzles very briefly)
- all good - I *highly* recommend the Same Game, Jotto and Felix. Sorry
not to furnish more info. I did check the links - noted the one that
isn't working.

Same Game (puzzle)
http://www.geocities.com/frankbannon/same/index.html

Jotto (word game)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/skookum/#jotto - dead link but there should
be other downloads available

Felix (cat that wanders around the desktop - not a game)
http://www.astro.lu.se/~stefans/linus.html

Linkz (puzzle)
http://www.v-d-l.com/games_linkz_features.html

FUNNY BALL (puzzle)
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/data/1217/games.html

BitMap Puzzle (Jigsaw)
http://www.futurebit.com/futurebit/puzzle.htm

AlterJig (Jigsaw)
http://www.softheap.com/jig.html


Susan
--
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
PL2003: http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/about2003PL.htm
PL2004 Review: http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php
alt.comp.freeware FAQ (short) - maintained by John F.
http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html

 

[Susan Bugher]

Jotto (word game)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/skookum/#jotto - dead link but there should
be other downloads available

Peter Donnelly's new home page:

http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/
Download Jotto (115 Kb)
http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/Jotto.zip

Other free games by Peter Donnelly are also listed:
# Brass Polish
# Gem Polish
# PGView
# Animal Game
# Sorcerer's Cave

Susan
--
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
PL2003: http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/about2003PL.htm
PL2004 Review: http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php
alt.comp.freeware FAQ (short) - maintained by John F.
http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html

 

[mike ring]

Peter Donnelly's new home page:

http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/
Download Jotto (115 Kb)
http://home1.gte.net/res1bup4/Jotto.zip

You beat me to it Susan, I was about to thank you for your suggestions and
tell you I'd found the Jotto page.

I also got Networdz, but I'll have to experiment with the dictionary
problem; i've not tried it yet, because I tried Sokoban, and I'm banging my
head against the wall already, can't do level two of umpteen.

So I think I'll leave it for a bit, and have a lager before bed.

Many thanks for all your suggestions, and to the other posters, it's
exactly the sort of thing I wanted

mike r

 

[mikeshap]

You may want to check out: Free Electronic Jigsaw Puzzles
(courtesy of The Fahrney Memorial Home for the Aged)

http://www.fkmh.org/freebies.htm

Various puzzle sizes and configurations are offered to satisfy everyone
from the beginner to the addicted puzzler. New puzzles are added weekly.
All puzzles are created from original photography.
Smaller puzzles can of course be played on PC's with higher display
settings. When in doubt, choose the smaller puzzles.

Thanks, Sietse. Very nice puzzles. They use IIRC the Tibo program to
create the puzzle, which seems to "install" the puzzle, on exit,
"uninstalls".

Mike Sa

 

[Susan Bugher]

I also got Networdz, but I'll have to experiment with the dictionary
problem; i've not tried it yet, because I tried Sokoban, and I'm banging my
head against the wall already, can't do level two of umpteen.

Many thanks for all your suggestions, and to the other posters, it's
exactly the sort of thing I wanted

That's super Mike. Hope your sister enjoys the games.

re: Networdz - I've never changed any words in the dictionary - just
wanted to let you know it *could* be done if you wanted to.

Susan
--
Pricelessware: http://www.pricelessware.org
PL2003: http://www.pricelessware.org/2003/about2003PL.htm
PL2004 Review: http://www.pricelessware.org/2004/2004nominationsPL.php
alt.comp.freeware FAQ (short) - maintained by John F.
http://clients.net2000.com.au/~johnf/faq.html

 

[mike ring]

That's super Mike. Hope your sister enjoys the games.

re: Networdz - I've never changed any words in the dictionary - just
wanted to let you know it *could* be done if you wanted to.

Susan

Good heavens, where've you been all this time?

I enjoyed some of the games myself; loved the little one filers (+.ini)
like boxworld.

Mary *still* hasn't got her mouse clicker integrated into the wheelchair
environment, but it's expected when the country wakes up tomorrow.

Happy New Year to you

mike r