Farkle – A Dice Game for the Palm
Published on September 12, 2005 in PalmI am not a big mobile game player on my Palm T3 but occasionally like to play a game when a few minutes present themselves. Recently I ran across a game from Smart Box Design, called Farkle, that is one of the best games I have seen for the Palm platform. Farkle (or Farkel) is a dice based game that is a cross between Yahtzee and craps and which is played with six dice. The game play is straightforward and simple. The object is to score points by rolling combinations of dice, until one player’s score reaches the winning threshold (10,000).
You can play Farkle against friends & family or choose between six virtual players, all with distinct personalities and names such as Nervous Nell and Steady Stan. 
Each player starts their turn by rolling all six dice. From this roll, any or all of the scoring possibilities may be held and the remaining dice rolled again (If all six of the dice are held, then all six may be re-rolled). This continues until the player decides to keep the points they have accumulated, during their turn, and pass or until no scoring combinations are rolled (called a Farkle). When a Farkle occurs all points accumulated for that players turn is lost. Farkle three times in a row and 1,000 points are subtracted from your score. When the first player crosses the magic threshold, all other players get one more chance to top that player’s score. If a player can, then that player wins. Otherwise, the first player to cross that threshold is the winner.
Like all games from Smart Box Design the presentation of Farkle on the screen is outstanding. The graphics are very crisp and clean (plays in 160×160 or 320×320 mode) and the sound effects are not overwhelming, adding nicely to the game’s atmosphere. Overall, Farkle is one of the best games I have played on the Palm platform, very addicting and entertaining.
