What games are like this one my mum can't play anymore?

July 16, 2011 2:05 AM

I'm looking for a variant on an old computer game that my mum can't play any more

My mum enjoys a number of computer games - mahjong, solitaire, breakout, bejwelled - that sort of thing. She's recently upgraded to Windows 7 and one of her old games won't play any more (I've tried lots of compatibility options).
It's called 'Boxes'. At the start, the player is presented with something like a 15x30 grid of boxes, randomly coloured on of five different colours. The idea is to click on clusters of boxes (which disappear) for points - larger clusters score more points. Boxes fall down and columns fall to the left. Game over when there are no more clusters of boxes.
I'd really like to find her a new version of the game rather than try and set up dosbox or the like. I don't mind spending money. Can anyone recognise the game or suggest any alternatives?

Thanks.

posted by YAMWAK to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

Best answer: I've seen many variants of that around (mainly on Linux, but that's where I tend to hang out). The basic idea seems to be called "the same game", so that's what you'd want to look for.
posted by Kalthare at 2:13 AM on July 16, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks Kalthare - that's the game. Now I know what to search for, this should be easy.
posted by YAMWAK at 2:21 AM on July 16, 2011

Crack Attack on linux sounds like the description of the game. you can download for windows
posted by infini at 2:29 AM on July 16, 2011

Sorry, hit post before linking
posted by infini at 2:30 AM on July 16, 2011

One of the better-known versions of this type of game is Collapse!. It can be played online or downloaded.
posted by Georgina at 2:39 AM on July 16, 2011

Line Up is a similar game, although you can only play it by adding it to an iGoogle homepage, or on an Android phone or iPhone/iPod Touch.
posted by neushoorn at 3:02 AM on July 16, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks guys - my mum browsed through the options, played a few games and selected Clickomania and this browser version of Same Game.
posted by YAMWAK at 4:30 AM on July 16, 2011

If she really wants to play the older game on Windows 7 just for nostalgia reasons. There's always XP Mode which virtualizes the older environment. Another legacy emulator that could help with older games is DOSBox. Those are the two easiest ways...it's also possible to use full blown VM environments such as VMWare, VirtualBOX, VirtualPC, etc as well. These would require installing the older OS inside a virtual machine (which honestly to play a game...it a bit overkill. The initial two solutions are nearly seamless once configured)
posted by samsara at 3:33 PM on July 16, 2011