ISHIDO: THE WAY OF STONES

 ISHIDO: THE WAY OF STONES is a certifiably addictive strategy game from
Accolade. Easy to learn yet difficult to master, ISHIDO has an attractive
appearance, and is loaded with features and options. This review is based on the
IBM-PC version.

 The game is played by placing stones on a board made up of eight rows of 12
squares, for a total of 96 squares. Each stone has two "attributes": a symbol,
and a color (or background pattern if played in CGA or Hercules graphics modes).
There are six symbols and six colors/patterns, for a total of 36 unique
combinations. Finally, there are two stones for each combination, yielding a
total of 72 stones to the game set.

 At the start of the game, the computer puts one stone on each corner of the
board, and two more diagonally in the center. The computer also makes sure that
all six symbols and colors are represented by the starting stones. At each turn,
the computer randomly selects a stone from the remaining set, and displays it
for the player to place on the board according to certain rules. The game ends
when the stones are all played, or when there are no legal moves for a stone.

 Each stone must be placed on an empty square adjacent -- either vertically or
horizontally -- to at least one other stone. Stones, once played, cannot be
moved. To place one stone next to another, either the color or the symbol must
match. To place one stone next to two others, your stone must match the color of
one stone and the symbol of the second stone. To place a stone next to three
others, it must match two of the stones with one attribute, and the third one
with the second attribute. For a four-way match, your symbol must match that of
two of the stones, and your color must match that of the remaining two. The main
object of the game is to play as many stones and score as many four-ways as
possible.

 ISHIDO has a similar look to Activision's SHANGHAI; both involve playing with
tiles (stones) on a board. Yet this game is far more complex and intricate, and
playing it well requires a lot of forethought and planning. Luck is also a big
factor, as you have no control over which stone is next to appear. To write this
review, I played close to 100 games. My best score is six four-ways and I have
yet to finish all the stones. The manual mentions that a master game is between
eight or nine four-ways. I have much to learn!

 The game supports both keyboard and mouse input. Options are selected from
pull-down menus. I found using the mouse most intuitive and enjoyable.

 Graphically, ISHIDO supports Hercules and CGA modes in black-and-white, EGA,
MCGA, and VGA. It requires 640K for VGA and Tandy 16-color modes, and 512K for
all other modes. Additionally, to use VGA you must either have a 3-1/2" drive,
or install the game on your hard disk. There are many different stone sets to
choose from in each mode. Surprisingly, I found the sets in the EGA mode the
most comfortable to play with. The VGA mode produces the most pleasing displays,
but the colors on some of the stone sets are too similar to distinguish between
them. The Hercules and CGA modes use patterns instead of colors; I found them
very difficult to play with. There is an option that allows you to design your
own sets, so if you can't find a set to your liking, you may always make up your
own. If your score is high enough to hit the high score list, you get to see a
color fireworks display over a nice black-and-white landscape. The drawing
varies, depending on which stone set you use.

 ISHIDO doesn't offer a music score, which is just as well. In a game such as
this, where a lot of concentration is needed, music only serves as a
distraction. The program does provide some pleasant sound effects through the PC
speaker. There is a nice gong or harp tone at the beginning of each game, an
every time you make a four-way. The digitized sound of the stone as it's placed
on the board is also well done. I have noticed that in VGA mode, there was only
the noise made by the stones; the gong or harp tone was absent. I don't know if
this was by design, or if it was because my system didn't have enough free
memory.

 Options! Options! Options! ISHIDO has so many optional features that I'm
convinced the author truly loved working on this project. You can play the game
in solitaire mode, or against the computer or another player. When you choose to
play against the computer or another player, you can either play in challenge
mode for competition, or in cooperative mode for a combined high score. There is
also a tournament mode available. You can even let the computer play in
solitaire mode, and just sit back and watch. The computer is very good at
setting up four-way possibilities, but doesn't seem to check if the stone needed
to complete the four-way is still available. Out of the many games I watched the
computer play, the best score was five four-ways, and it wa never able to finish
placing all the stones, either.

 There are also options to select different boards and stone sets, create your
own sets, save and restore a game, toggle sound effects, display high scores,
etc. To help you learn the game, there are options that show you all possible
moves and stones left to be played, undo previous moves, and provide online
strategy hints and suggestions. There is even an option to toggle your score
between Roman numerals and Arabic numerals!

 The most unusual option is the oracle. Whenever you turn this option on, either
before or during a game, you're allowed to type in a question -- any question at
all, but preferably not one with a yes or no answer. Then, after you make your
next four-way, a text window opens up, showing you the answer from the oracle.
According to the manual, the answers are based on the I CHING, the ancient
Chinese book of changes. The appearance of the answers in turn depends on the
stones that make up the four-way and the exact moment the four-way was
completed. In general, the answers are vague and very philosophical, and can be
interpreted in many different ways. Sometimes they're profound; other times
amusing or downright hilarious.

 The game comes with both 5-1/4" and 3-1/2" disks, and can be easily installed
on your hard drive. Copy protection is via code wheel; you only get one try in
entering code. One wrong entry and the program kicks you back to DOS, which must
be version 2.1 or later. After two weeks of frequent playing, I found no
programming bugs.

 The manual is _extremely_ well-written and well-organized. There is also a
small book telling the story of two ancient ISHIDO masters playing against one
another for high stakes. The bad guy finished his game with 12 four-ways and all
the stones played. While he was gloating, the good master placed all of his
stones and made 13 four-ways. I would give anything to have watched those two
games!

 Accolade has a real winner on its hands. Any gamer interested in this type of
strategic game should definitely check out ISHIDO.

 ISHIDO: THE WAY OF STONES is published and distributed by Accolade.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253