DOS Casino Game Nostalgia

During the last ten years a virtual avalanche of casino and poker games has swept through the Internet. It's impossible to even turn on a computer nowadays without getting harassed by online casinos trying to pick up new customers. Most people view computerized casino gaming as a new phenomenon, but of course they are all wrong. In the beginning, when DOS ruled the world, there were quite a few casino games available – some good and some, well, deadly boring. Let's take a look at a couple of them.

Vegas Pro Video Poker

This little video-poker classic was developed by The WorkWare Company and released in 1989. The game is quite straightforward – a basic jacks-or-better machine with no bonus rounds, blinking lights or jackpots. In other words, video poker the way it was intended to be... rather dull.

Teenage Queen

Not only did we learn about card gaming on our PCs, we also found out a little about the female anatomy in 16-color EGA. One of the best games in this category is Teenage Queen by ERE Informatique, released in 1988. The plot is quite simple: you meet a girl in the park, she takes you to a club and you start a poker game. The better you play the edgier the game becomes. Teenage Queen is a well-animated game – a lot better than the "pixely" strip-poker games that were around in those days. But remember, your opponent never bluffs!

Bargames

"Bargames" includes four different games: Liar's Dice, Wet 'n' Wild, Last Call, Air Hockey and Pick-up-artist. Liar's Dice is a real back-alley casino game that has been around for at least 500 years. I have spent hours playing Bargames, although my favorites were Air Hockey and Last Call. The only question is: Why didn't they include a pinball game?