This page is the beginning of a directory to software which is simple enough to run without hassle on IBM-type pcs. It is intended to be a showcase for the good simple software out there which YOU know about.... PLEASE suggest titles for inclusion.

This page is going to be a reference to software from other sources which meet a number of criteria. The project is in its early stages. Your thoughts on the direction it should take would be very welcome. The first list following is 'not negotiable' (sorry!) (You can see what I look for in software more generally on my 'corporate philosophy' page. )

For inclusion in this directory, the software must....
  a) Be for IBM-type pcs.
  b) It must not need / make any changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT,
          CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, etc
  c) It must be distributed with all necessary .DLLs, etc, and it
          must work with those files in its directory if the user
         doesn't choose to put them in, say, \WINDOWS\SYSTEM
  d) It must cost less than $100

The following ideas have yet to be fully explored, and they ARE negotiable....

For inclusion, the software should....

a) Run from a write protected floppy. (If the user wishes. It would
probably also be possible to install the software on a hard disc.)
b) Be distributed from easily accessed sources, probably the net.
It should come as a single disc or file. Files to be unzipped or self
extracting files are okay... but they must allow the user to control
where all extracted files are put. They must not go anywhere
except to the designated directory, or a sub-directory of that.
c) Be sufficiently straightforward that once you have the unzipped
material, you can put the disc in, invoke the program, and get a
clear idea of what it is aobut without much further ado!

Programs already identified as (broadly) meeting the stated criteria...

a) (My own software!! (shameless self promotion, I'm afraid!)
b) Slay.. a 'Risk'-like game, see next...
c) Mother of All Battles... a superb game. Slay and Risk are both
covered on another page in this site.

d) Turbo Go... There is a fine public domain version of
the game, running under DOS. I've not tracked down
a web source... please let me know if you find one. The
help file should/ may mention the program coming
second in the 1993 European Computer Go Championship,
and/or Arnoud van der Loeff.

e) Hangman for Windows... Registration: $5.
              Pocket-Sized Software, Greenwood Village, CO

f) Super Snakes... Registration: $15. Look for 'SSNAKES'.
Author: Kevin L Patch... who doesn't seem to be at..
72611.2301@compuserve.com anymore. (This program doesn't
fully qualify... it writes a 'high score' datafile to your disc.
Will survive write protection, as I remember things.)

g) Warheads... A shoot-the-incoming-missles type game.
A good version was released by Lowe and Steadle, 1991