In this section:

As the saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack—or Jacqueline—a dull boy (or girl)!" Because we know that you, our readers, are anything but dull, this section of the book is all about playing games and having fun!

Whether you want to take a few minutes to work off some energy with a quick game of Minesweeper or FreeCell, challenge yourself with the constantly changing layout and effects of InkBall, lose yourself for an hour in a game of Solitaire, or invite a friend or colleague to join you in a game of Chess Titans, Windows Vista is ready to play! If you’re a devotee of the traditional Mah-jongg game, there’s an intriguing one-player version called Mahjong Titans that you’ll want to try.

There are even some games that small children can play, either by themselves or with your help. They’ll be learning about colors and shapes as they create fantastic confections in the Comfy Cakes game, strengthening their visual memory as they match tile patterns in the Purble Pairs game, and playing a guessing game in Purble Shop. Our young tester got the hang of all three games with a minimum of assistance from us, and she enthusiastically challenged herself by increasing the difficulty level.

So without further ado...let the games begin!

Playing Chess Titans

Chess Titans is a great way to learn and practice your chess game. You can play against the computer or against an actual human opponent, in which case you and your opponent have to take turns using the same computer. When you play against the computer, you can choose the level of difficulty you want. You use the same rules and strategies in Chess Titans as you do when you’re playing on a regular chess board.

Play Chess Titans

1. Choose Chess Titans from the Games folder of the Start menu, and choose either New Game Against Computer or New Game Against Human.

2. If you’re playing against the computer, choose Options from the Game menu, and set the level of difficulty you want. Make any other settings, and click OK.

3. Click the chess piece you want to move.

4. Click the square you want to move the piece into. Squares into which you can legally move your piece are highlighted.

5. Wait for either the computer or your human opponent to move.

6. Repeat steps 2 through 4 until a King is in check. If your King is in check, move a piece to remove the King from check, if possible.

7. Continue playing until a King is checkmated or until someone quits by choosing Resign from the Game menu.

Tip

Check the improvement of your game: Choose Statistics from the Game menu, and look at the different levels of difficulty to see how many games you’ve won.