Giveaway of the Day - Buku Dominoes

This was previously given away back in Sept 07:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/buku-dominoes/#comments

Quote:

Buku Dominoes is a highly customized version of one of the most popular games of the world: the dominoes!
History says that dominoes is the oldest game in the world, discovered in 1922 among the treasures surrounding the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen. Some, however, argue that inventors of this game were the Chinese. The digital era marks the advent of Buku Dominoes, a high-quality version of this classic among strategy games, which are further enriched by the possibilities offered by the digital world.

Reference: http://eurogamer.metaboli.co.uk/MetaGame/productdetail.jsp?product_id=5343 accessed 8th October 2008

There’s also an online version that you can try at Big Fish games, though I think you need a particular activeX control for it to work. Usually when this is the case a message will pop up to inform you, but I’ve not been able to get it to work on my computer and no message pops up. Still, here’s the link in hope that it will work for some:

http://www.bigfishgames.com/online-games/3781/en_buku-dominoes-game/index.html
or
http://www.chocosnow.com/play-online-games/buku-dominoes/

Quote:

”In this highly customizable computer version of the classic strategy board game, Buku Dominoes offers infinite hours of favorite domino games. With an interface based on easy-to-understand animated icons, this game will be enjoyed by domino enthusiasts as well as players new to the game.”

I have to agree that it is customizable, and there are 10 distinct versions of the game (I thought dominoes were dominoes, lol) each with its own set of rules, all of which are accessible from the in game menu.
See the links below for several screenshots that will give you an idea as to what’s available. There are 50 different bone designs to choose from as well as three different skins. Buku Dominoes also lets you import your favorite music and the ability to change the playing field background. Although I never figured that out from when I first downloaded this game, lol
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Buku%20Dominoes/?albumview=grid
slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Buku%20Dominoes/?albumview=slideshow
other images:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/?s=Buku+Dominoes&x=34&y=15
http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=buku+dominoes&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

There’s also a video posted over at Big Fish Games that can also be seen via You Tube, though it doesn’t show the different bone designs, just 70 seconds of game play plus a Big Fish intro and outro:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3gM5STm2vI
I’ve not played dominoes since I was a kid; playing it with real ‘bones’ with my grand parents. I think this game with its variety and customizable game’ will’ prompt me to play the game again. (no it didn’t, lol). It’s an ideal game for filling in those quiet moments.
The music that comes packaged with the game will not be to everyone’s taste; however you can import your own music from the options menu. However you will first have to convert whatever music you want to play in game into .ogg files, which if you’ve been an avid follower of the giveaway teams applications, you should have at least one audio converter. If you haven’t, just keep an eye out because there’s bound to either be another one or an upgrade to one that’s already been given away. You can actually find some free ones in the freeware library under audio and video:
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/freeware/cat/Audio_Video_Audio_Encoders_Converters/

There are up to four players, all of which can have a small selection of avatars to choose from. Again, it is possible to place your own avatar within the games folder. These must be 60×60 pixels in size. (one of the graphical editors that have been given away previously such as Zoner Photo Studio , or one of the many freeware versions available such as The GIMP or it’s easier to use counterpart GimpShop could be used:
http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
http://www.gimpshop.com/download.shtml

Requirements
OS - Windows XP/Vista
Processor - 800 Mhz
Memory - 128
DirectX - 8.0

Conclusion
For overall game play, style and the fact that’s it’s a time honored game, I give it 8 out of 10. I strongly advise all game lovers to download this version.
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Don’t forget, my free game for the weekday postings will resume tonight. Monday’s game will be a similar game to last Friday’s; an interactive action adventure game with lots of puzzles in between the action to keep your mind active.

As usual with this developer, the installation doesn’t create a desktop shortcut, and it also trys to install to a previous Merscom game so you’ll need to type in the instllation path yourself.

For those who generally allow their games to be installed to the default location it is:

C:\Program Files\