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Mixed or average reviews - based on 10 Critics What's this?

  • Summary: [Xbox Live Arcade] Spyglass Board Games offers a fun new take on classic board games, like Chess, Checkers, Mancala, and Reversi. Play and chat socially on Xbox Live, or play against the computer. Use the Xbox LIVE Vision camera to personalize the game board, playing pieces, and video effects. Each game has custom pieces to choose from, such as a rook made of stone, or a furry checkers piece with cute gleaming eyes. Customizable pieces: Choose custom game pieces that range from traditional marble, to metallic silver, to fuzzy and wiggling gel. Twelve achievements: Twelve achievements are offered ranging from easy, such as playing all four games, to more challenging, such as taking all four corners in Reversi. [Microsoft] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 10
  2. Negative: 4 out of 10
  1. On the surface, there's not much to Spyglass Board Games. [Aug 2007, p.81]
  2. 45
    Are most casual gamers willing to pay 400 Microsoft Points (US$5) for Chess and Checkers? Probably not.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 2 out of 3
  1. Aaace5
    7
    It's pretty clear that when you make this purchase, you are buying chess and checkers - with two bonus games added to make the package look better! I only play chess and checkers, and don't have a clue what the other games are even about, nor do I care! These games are good as is... but it helps if you play against someone you know. The games are too simple to judge these games by any technical standards. If you like chess and checkers and want to try two extra games this is a good deal. Just don't expect this package to have alot of flash like most other XBLA games... it's about as plain as hardwood spades! Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. MatC.
    3
    Flat out, this should have been a free release. Chess? OK, there are 1000 features that are in every other chess game, but this is just as basic a game as it gets. Same with checkers. The rest is fluff. The reality is that the CPU is blindingly simple, and the game lacks any reason to pay for it. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. Daniel
    2
    Only buy this to play chess with a friend online or are a hardcore competitive chess player and have to play it on Xbox Live. The game is very bare bones. It doesn't have features you would expect it to have. There’s no timer for moves and people can quit early and it won’t count as a win. As you move your piece the opponent can see what you’re thinking. You can't even play local multiplayer. The AI is horrible. I can beat the AI in chess in 4 moves every time and it will stupidly sacrifice its queen for no reason. The achievements are glitched and there still hasn’t been an update since release. Barely anyone even plays it online anymore. Also you can't even have a view that looks directly down on the pieces, only at an angle you can rotate. The 3D pieces do look nice though. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes