Enough Already... Time To Play

When I first started doing voluntary work in our computer centre the Manageress a very difficult young lady told me to just teach Senor People to play games as it helped them get used to the mouse and much else was a waste of time.

Apart from that comment being very condescending, I soon found all my mature students had a lot more on their mind than game playing and were bored silly. So I took no notice of her directions and got down to teaching something useful that they had come in for.

But it did give me the idea that when we do have time, playing games is very good fun and does keep the grey matter working.

For those of you who are just starting computing and have been working hard, you may not have found the built in program of Games on your computer yet.

If you press START which is down in the left hand corner of the Monitor, the word Programs come up. Press again and scroll down the Menu. You will find the word GAMES.

To make the games bigger press the square in the right hand top of the game page. Where you will see three squares. Press the middle square to maximise the page. This makes the page bigger and easier to see and you will fill up your screen.

You can also make your monitor size bigger by either going to the Tool Bar and pressing View and you will see Full Screen or you can press F11 on your key board. Depending on the version you are using look around for this option it makes game playing larger and much easier.

Solitaire and Free Cell are the best to start with. Game playing can become quite addictive. When you have got bored with the built in games, already on your computer go to Google and Search the word Games. A lot of free sites will come up.

Try them all until you find the games you like. Some of the programs you will have to join. Just put in a password and log in in as I explained last week and you will be able to play.

One word of caution when playing on line do not download games. It cost money to download and you only have a very limited time to play them before you are asked to buy, just play the games on line.

Yahoo has a very good games site.
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Another fun thing for those of you who like to do Jigsaw Puzzles is to Google the word Jigsaw and find free jigsaws. With some programs you get a Daily Jigsaw, which can be deliver in your email. They are available at various levels of ability and again if like me you are addicted to Jig Saw Puzzles this is a great time waster and fun.

When you get really into this type of Internet use, you will find programs where you can play with other people. Games such as Canasta, Mah Jongg, and Poker even Bingo and many more. My favourite site is http://www.king.com

Below are some of the games they have on offer. This is a free site but you can join if you wish and dependant on what country you live in. There are the following types of games:

Puzzle games
Action games
Word games
Card games
Strategy games
Sports games

Game Type Description

Bejewelled 2
A sequel to the classic gem-switching game.
Rainbow Rescue
Help the Rainies form Rainbows in the sky!
Bomp Bomp
Switch the Bomps, but be aware of the bombs.

Deal or No Deal
A unique skill version of the hit TV game show.

Jungle Bubble
Bust all the bubbles by aligning bubbles of the same colour.

Klick, Klack & Roll
A unique new Klicker game with double game fields to master.

Match Blocks
Match or isolate the blocks and clear the bombs.

Silver Screen
A switching line game with two-coloured cubes.

Katana Kaunto
Click the numbers in the right sequence

Klicker Klacker 2
A classic puzzle game with 3 levels. You will need both bombs and brains.

Startris
A unique variation of the classic block game.

Jungle Rumble
A multiplayer version of the classic bubble game for 2-5 players!

Fashion Factory
Sell the designer bags at the highest prices possible!
Midas Miner
Line up the gems and coins to clear the mine.
Chain Reaction
Clear the molecules before the screen fills up.

Flower Power
Place the falling flowers cleverly to clear them away.

There are many more games and hours of fun to be had. If you are new to computing, this type of exercise does get you used to moving cards etc with your mouse and makes it fun at the same time. The other added advantage is that buying all this type of entertainment would cost a fortune, but in this case it is free, a very good incentive to start playing.

Until next week have a fun time
See you then.

Copyright © Barbara Corcoran
www.BarbaraCorcoran.biz