Robin Hood's Games of Skill & Chance

US box art.

Crazy Nick's Software Picks: Robin Hood's Games of Skill and Chance is a multi-genre video game developed and published by Sierra On-Line in 1992 for MS-DOS. It was part of the Crazy Nick's Software Picks series of budget computer games, and uses characters and themes from Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood. This particular title includes three games taken directly from the source game: a bow and arrow shooting range, nine men's morris, and stick fighting. It was created using the Sierra Creative Interpreter engine.

Personal

Having never played the game it is based on, this was the last of the Crazy Nick's Software Picks games I tried. I played the archery "game" first and became bored of it almost immediately. Next, I beat the sticks game on the hardest difficulty multiple times by just mashing the button. I had never played nine men's morris in my life, so I had to read the rules, and then shocked myself by beating the AI without losing a single piece! Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I played the game two more times and beat the AI, again without losing a piece! After only about 20 minutes, I had beaten both winnable games on 2020-05-30! I later discovered that the games were taken directly from the source, and was even more unimpressed with it.

Status

I don't own this game, but I have beaten it.

Review

3	3	4	4	3

Best Version: DOS

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game competently enforces the rules for nine men's morris.
• The graphics are quite good.
• The title music is nice and lively.

Bad

• None of the variations of nine men's morris are supported, and there isn't even a difficulty setting.

Ugly

• This game is nothing more than a repackaging of three very small segments of Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood, so, if you already own the main game (which would be the primary reason for being attracted to this title) you get nothing new. Even if you have never played the main game before, you'll see everything the game has to offer in about 20 minutes.
• The archery "game" isn't even a game but rather a toy. There is no opponent, no score, and you're not punished for making a bad shot or rewarded for making a good shot.
• The AI for nine men's morris is extremely weak and cannot be made harder. I had never played the game before, but beat the AI three times in a row without losing a single piece!
• The "sticks" game is not fun. The opponent moves too quickly to react to them in time, but it doesn't matter because, if you just keep clicking really quickly high and low, you'll beat the AI at expert difficulty every time.
• Although it would have been trivial to implement, the game doesn't support two-player mode.

Media

Box Art

The box art is about what you would expect from a budget release: garish. It has some basic drawings, a screenshot, and bright eye-catching text.

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  North American box.

Documentation

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  Advertisement for Crazy Nick's Software Picks.

Videos

Longplay.

Links