The Hardwood Series

Xbox Live® Arcade is off and running on Xbox 360™, and helping to round out the service offerings is the Hardwood series of card and board games: Hardwood Backgammon, Hardwood Hearts, and Hardwood Spades. Here's what you can expect from the Xbox Live Arcade versions of these all-time classic games.

A classic game, a classic venue.

The Standards
Across all their titles, the Hardwood series offers the following features on Xbox 360:

• Visuals: Like any other Xbox 360 game, the Hardwood series of games offer high-definition (go here for more details) and 16x9 widescreen support for those sporting TVs capable of each feature.
• Multiplayer: The Hardwood series offers multiplayer options on the same console as well as over Xbox Live. You can also expect all the same options on Xbox Live as you would from another game, including custom match, ranked match, voice chat, and leaderboards.
• Continuous theme: Each game features the same elegant hardwood theme, maintaining a unique but common thread through each title. Also, whether playing single-player or multiplayer, your gamer picture is featured as the icon that represents your place at the table.
• Instructions: Old standards though they may be, some of us are learning these games for the first time, while others need a refresher course. You'll find a full-featured tutorial in each game.

Authenticity
True to the roots of each game, the Hardwood series uses the same rule sets these classic games have used over their lifespan, but even more impressive is the level of customizable detail offered in each game. Below are some prime examples of the custom rules you can tweak or enable.

Ack! Get rid of the queen.

• Hardwood Hearts
  • Partners: You can choose to play with a partner or not, with the points for each counting towards one total.
  • Jack of Diamonds: This common house rule makes the Jack of Diamonds a sort of opposite to the dreaded Queen of Spades. The Jack is worth -10 points.
  • Shoot the Moon/Sun: This classic rule can be turned on or off, though it is (rightfully) turned on by default. If you collect all the hearts and the Queen of Spades in a single hand, you receive no points. Better yet, your opponents each receive a full set of points (26) for the round. If you're even more daring, you can attempt to take every hand and dole out an even more painful penalty.
• Hardwood Spades
  • Game Type: Not only can you play a standard match (each player can bid what they want), but Suicide matches (one player must bid zero) and Mirror (bid equals the number of spades in their hand) modes are also available.
  • Blind Nil: Like in Hardwood Hearts, you find common house rules in Hardwood Spades as well. One option allows you to bid nil before seeing your hand. If successful, you win twice the points you normally would.
  • Play Till: Also available in Hardwood Hearts and Hardwood Backgammon, you can choose how many points the game plays until, so if you're looking for a marathon match or just a quick round you have options for both.
• Hardwood Backgammon
  • Difficulty: Backgammon is an exceedingly strategic game, and one that requires instant recognition of possibilities and opportunities. Whether you're a novice or an expert looking for a real challenge, Hardwood Backgammon offers an opponent difficulty to match your own skill.
  • Doubling Cube: This offers a player the opportunity to double the point value of the game.

Working partners with the computer.

Hardwood Backgammon, Hardwood Hearts, and Hardwood Spades offer excellent presentation; high-definition and widescreen options; classic customizable rule sets; and multiplayer over Xbox Live, making this series a complete package. Each game is available separately for download, and each offers a free demo so you can see if it's just right for you.

Article by Alex McLain