Genre: Strategy/Board Games

Format: CD

Developer: Freeverse Software

Publisher: Freeverse Software

Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.3, 250MB free hard disk space, internet connection for online play

Review Computer: 1 GHz G4 17" PowerBook, 512MB RAM, Mac OS X v10.3.6

Network Feature: Yes

Price: $24.95

ESRB Rating: N/A

Availability: Now

Official Website: [url=http://www.freeverse.com/bbbg/]http://www.freeverse.com/bbbg/[/url]

It would seem I missed the boat on this one. When Freeverse first showed Applelinks Big Bang Chess, I was underwhelmed. When Erica Marceau reviewed it for us, she was underwhelmed. And then, suddenly people are loving it and it's winning Apple Design Awards. Now, we're certainly not ones to question Apple, although we often do, so who's right, here? We are, of course, now that we've completely changed our minds.

When we looked at Big Bang Chess, that's all it was; a chess game with some unique features to tie it in with Apple's iApp apps. That's all well and good, but it was still just chess, and there were better chess games out there. What's more, the iApp integration, which is the core philosophy of the Big Bang games, needed a bit of work. Now, Big Bang Board Games is a full package of titles, polished titles, and the results are spectacular.

First, Big Bang Board Games comprises the following games in one $25.00 package: checkers, chess, reversi, mancala, backgammon, 4-in-a-row and tic-tac-toe. So, it's basically an overhauled version of their Freeverse Deluxe Board Games package, minus Go Deluxe and 7th Fleet Deluxe...which is a shame, because 7th Fleet Deluxe was my favorite of that package. I mean, who here is going to go online for some intense Tic Tac Toe gaming mayhem (other than me to get a screen capture). Freeverse Board Games are still available for those using Mac OS 8.6 through OS X v10.2, and those who purchase big Bang Board Games will receive a free registration for the earlier versions.

Before I get into the iApp interaction, I should talk about the graphics in these games. Like Apple, the boys and girls at Freeverse understand design. They understand appearance. Everything from the game interface to the backgrounds to the playing pieces are intricately designed to fit into the whole. They convey a mood throughout, and they never falter from that mood. Even the voice acting and comments from the characters are more subdued than in Freeverse games past; more ethereal. And the music...at the risk of sounding like a new age guru or someone reviewing a Shirley Cason album, the music orbits around the game without ever really breaking into it. Listening to it, I always felt the urge to head to the nearest aquarium and stare at some jellyfish.

The elegant simplicity of the design is carried through to the theme...the sun versus the moon. If you play as the moon, your opponent will be a sun character who looks like an older, calmer, wiser Heat Mizer from that Christmas show. If you play as the sun, your opponent will be...well, I think it's Jen, the Freeverse website spokesperson, only she died and became that girl who kept walking through the TV in Ringu.

Aside from selecting your opponent, you can also customize the game boards and pieces. There aren't as many options here as in Freeverse games past, but that's fine; what they've offered initially doesn't need to be switched around to keep the game looking fresh. The difficulty level can also be adjusted between four settings, determined by how long you want the computer to think about its moves. In some games, such as 4-in-a-row, even the easier levels still proved a bit difficult (although, perhaps I just stink at it), while I found the difficult levels to still be beatable in reversi, where the computer couldn't figure out that capturing corners was important. In nearly ever game I played, the computer would be handily winning until the very end when it suddenly couldn't place any more pieces and I'd steal the victory in three moves.

So, it's easy to see why Big Bang Chess won the Apple Design Award for 2004 Best Mac OS X Product, but why the Best Mac OS X Technology Adoption? I assume because Apple likes to reward those who embrace their technology, and Big Bang Chess gave Mac OS X a big bang bear hug. Likewise for the full Big Bang Board Games, which rolls iTunes, Mail, Address Book, iChat and iSight into its compatible list of programs, leaving only iMovie and iPhoto to wonder why no one's making movies of their checkers prowess or printing endgame images to use as Christmas cards. Mac gamers can use iChat to invite others to play a game online, and iSight can then be used to send from within the game. Your iTunes playlist is available from within the game as well, in case, you know, your Enya collection helps you strategize more clearly.

Mail and Address Book? Yes, it's true; you can play these games through e-mail, sending your moves to your opponent, who then makes his move and e-mails it to you. You may think that would take a long time, but I'm pretty sure some chess tournaments have taken longer. Unfortunately, this is not without its problems. When you launch an e-mail game, it asks for your game title, your e-mail address, and your opponent's address. Each time I tried to fill in my opponent's address, Big Bang would automatically add another e-mail address from my Address Book to that e-mail, making it impossible to send (although I could later edit the address in Mail).

But, speaking of chess, which I'm pretty sure I was at some point, quite a few improvements have been made since our review of Big Bang Chess. Most directly related is the addition of a GNU Chess A.I. for Master level play. Of course, I couldn't really test this, as I don't play at that level. For the whole package, a proxy server eliminates some hosting problems, Freeverse has implemented a plug-in architecture for opponents and boards (although, I can't see myself messing with what's there), and there's now GameSmith support so you can find an opponent if your iChat buddies aren't available.

If I had one complaint to make (aside from the exclusion of 7th Fleet Deluxe, of course), it would be the method of switching from game to game. Although you can switch from within any title, each Big Bang Board Game program is its own entity. When you switch, it quits the current game, returns you to the Finder, and automatically launches the new game. This is a bit distracting; like having to leave a room, walk down the hall, and enter another room to play another game. It breaks the flow. A side effect of this is that if you want to add Big Bang Board Games to your Dock or Favorites folder, you have to add each game individually. I'd prefer that launching the program took you to a general area/screen from which you could choose your game, and that quitting that game would take you back to the menu of games, rather than back to the Finder.

Quite honestly, until the release of Big Bang Board Games, I was starting to wonder what Freeverse was doing over there in New York. It was starting to seem like all we were getting from them were more updates to older games and titles from European developers. Now, I see what they've been working on, and I'm thrilled with the results. They've always had the ability to make family-friendly games appeal to people who actually enjoy games, which is much more difficult to pull off than you might think (normally, the phrase "Fun for the whole family" is code for "Fun for adults who hate their kids and have forgotten the joys of childhood"). But Freeverse continually nails this by taking classic, time tested gameplay and adding a degree of elegance and personality (not attitude, mind you, but personality) that continue to draw you back.

You know, kind of like the jellyfish exhibit at the aquarium. I swear, sometimes I think they're talking to me...telling me to prepare myself.

I've said too much.