Black Box

Black Box is an early PC version of a 1978 Parker Brothers board game of the same name that emphasizes logical deduction. Sort of a 3D version of Mastermind, your goal in this game is to find all the hidden atoms in a 8x8 grid "black box" by shooting light rays into the box from the side, and observing what happens. If a ray directly hits an atom, it will be absorbed. Rays that pass within one box of an atom will be reflected.

This BASIC version of the game is faithful to the board game original, and is easy to learn. To help prevent random guessing, you lose points for a ray that completely misses an atom, or an incorrect guess about the atom's location. Of course, you do gain points for rays that are absorbed or reflected, as well as for a correct guess. If you get stumped you can end the game early and peek at the location of all atoms. The challenge is to correctly deduce the locations with the least number of light rays.

If you enjoy logical puzzles that require no reflexes to solve, Black Box will entertain you for hours on end, even if the gameplay is a little repetitive.

Review By HOTUD