DOPE WARS / DRUGLORD ETC

Having retrieved my precious Pentium I from a local shop  in 1996 I found a version of this game installed by the shop owner. Around that time I played the likes of The Day of the Tentacle, Tomb Raider, Pandemonium etc and was blown away by the beauty of PC and Playstation graphics , so it comes as no surprise that I didn't like the game.Who would have endured a game that looked like an early version of Total Commander for Windows? It took me two years to sit down  and give it time in order to truly appreciate its magnitude .

Originally written in 1984, the game lived to see many versions and the fact that it is still being played around the world and is being constantly updated is a feat in itself, in addition to spawning a whole host of clones. Despite its sketchy and text-based form, it treats selling drugs as any other job , so it's practically a business strategy you're playing. You start with $2000 and $5500 in debt, you choose a city and play a turn. One turn includes a day's worth of  acquiring a quantity of drugs on offer and delivering them in your trenchcoat to a location you'll be selling them at. Different drugs are available for purchase at different locations in towns at different parts of a given day. Any action taken by the police, druglords, cartels, addicts, loan sharks or yourself changes the situation and affects your "business". As you move about you realise you're on edge all the time despite the fact that all the action and transactions are presented with simple pop-up text forms and a limited number of stagy voice samples. I've loved this game ever since.

You can find the list of all major versions of this game here:
http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/PROGRAMS/DOORS/DOPEWARS/

The Incredible Machine 2

This game is an epitome of  what puzzle games should be like. It's about our dream of being Tom or Wile E.Coyote coming up with fantastic contraptions in order to catch their respective prey. You're given parts you need to integrate into a contraption that needs to perform a task (usually moving objects in a wanted direction).A cannon shoots a ball, the ball turns on a switch, the switch sets a factory line in motion and the motion spills a bucket with another ball coming out etc. Sounds simple and maybe a bit too retro as an idea for a game now, but it's another highly addictive game that stood the test of time with its unique concept.The navigation is easy, the playability is extremely high, the icons are beautiful. Of course,  Incredible Machine 1 set the foundation for the entire series, with IM 2 introducing new levels , better graphics ,less irritating sounds,new parts for machines etc, All the later versions  failed to introduce something new and take players somewhere else.

Absolutely worth your time.