![]() Click for full size imageįooms have absolutely no effect on the outcome of the game, but they do make it feel more like you're sitting around a table with some friends. Fooms let you either punish or reward the others at the table by doing things like hitting them with fireballs when they wrong you or giving them a virtual kiss when they help you out (wittingly or not). Silver Creek has spiced up the online component by letting you chat and by implementing "fooms," which are perhaps the game's best feature. There are always plenty of friendly folks willing to play, and, as you'll learn in the interview, Hardwood Spades has served as the catalyst for more than a few real-life relationships. The online component certainly is the highlight of Hardwood Spades, and a wonderful community has crystallized around the game. You begin by picking one of 21 customizable character portraits and then decide whether you want to play against the AI or head straight to the online servers. Hardwood Spades combines the outstanding graphics of its predecessors with online play and throws in a few surprises that really set this game apart from the competition. Even the MIDI music tracks are more enchanting than they have any right to be. There are plenty of themed card decks to choose from, and the game is compatible with Silver Creek's Deck Press software so that you can design your own decks or use one of the hundreds of decks others have created. Everything from the menus to the automated update screen shares the same gorgeous fantasy theme, with parchment paper backing all the text, smooth animations everywhere, and colorful particle effects showering the screen after nearly every mouse click. They succeeded on all counts, and Hardware Spades, the company's latest game, epitomizes what the Hardwood series is all about. ![]() ![]() The company focused on making its games customizable, user-friendly, and above all, beautiful. Silver Creek Entertainment obviously recognized this problem early on its games have never had a problem standing out in the crowded market.īeginning with Hardwood Solitaire, it was obvious that Silver Creek wasn't just another company trying to cash in on a simple concept. It seems that it would be easy to program a good card game, but with hundreds of free or shareware games in this genre clogging the Internet, simply getting noticed can be a developer's biggest challenge. Hardwood Spades Developer: Silver Creek Entertainment Publisher: Silver Creek Entertainment Release date: available now By T. ![]()
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