Anubis Casino is a shareware package which contains 13 different casino games from within a single application. Once you startup the application, you create a player, and that player can then choose which game to play. Win or lose, the player can then move to a different game, and the player's money total is retained throughout. You also have the option to create new players, as well switching your place at a table.

Once a player is created, the fourth menu is named after the player, and the third menu is named after the game currently in play. Under the game menu, various options will appear under that menu associated to that particular game (such as "Roll" and "Hardway Bet" for Craps, etc.). Also under that menu for all games are "Options", "History", and "Move To". The Move To item is a submenu of the other games the player can choose to play.

Under the player menu are "Overall Stats", "Consolidate Chips", "Switch Place at Table" and "Reset Money". Under the Edit menu are various preference settings for the game in general, and under the File menu are options for creating a player, changing the player, or deleting the player.

Anubis Casino does include a wide range of different games to play. The games that are included are Baccarat, Blackjack, Carribean Stud, Casino War, Craps, Double Down Stud, Holdem Foldem, Let It Ride, Pai Gow Domino, Pai Gow Poker, Roulette, Sic Bo, and Three Card Poker.

When you create a new player, you start off with one chip with a "10". It isn't clear what that chip is worth until you double-click (or change your "Options" to show chip total). When you double-click a chip, you are shown the amount, and given options to either split the chip by number of chips, or by value of chips. For example, with the first chip (which is worth $100,000), you can break it into 20 $5,000 chips (which are actually pink chips labeled "50", implying that it is 50 times $100, pink representing the "times 100"). I can then double-click one of the $5000 chips and indicate that I want to break it into $100 chips. This action creates 50 blue chips labeled "10" (blue representing "times $10"). The chips, once split, are scattered across the board in the new denominations, and the placement does not always agree with the board configuration. For example, in Three Card Poker, the chips end up laying over portions of the board such as the bet placement circles and the actions buttons. It is really bad when the chips lay across a button, because when you try to grab the chip, the game actually takes that as a button press (and the chip becomes unreachable unless you choose to consolidate the chips). With Craps, the chip placements are near the bottom of the window, and so splitting chips actually makes the chips disappear past the bottom of the window. Additionally, if you split a chip with other chips around it, rather than adding new chips, the additional chips are laid on top of the existing chips, and the program adds the two chips into a single chip. Another problem with the chip management is that all the dollar amounts are displayed with commas where decimals should be, and decimals where commas should be (e.g., $1,900.00 is represented as $1.900,00).

The games themselves appear to adhere well to the actual games, providing all the options you would expect with each game (such as "Double-down" and "Splitting" in Blackjack, etc.). The interface is relatively simple, although it is not always obvious where you should be placing your bet (especially if it's a game you've never played before). What I found lacking in all the games were ambience. The graphics were very flat and 2D, and the sounds were minimal (the dice made a roll sound, but cards did not make a send, nor did chip placements). The sounds that did exist were not that great.

There is an option to reset your money back to $100,000 ("Reset Money"), and although this option worked when I had at least one chip left, it did not work when I had no chips left (which is when I needed it the most). Essentially, when a player reaches $0, that player is dead in the water, and you have to create a new player to continue playing.

Overall Comments
Anubis Casino includes a lot of fun casino games, and adheres to the rules of those games quite well. However, there are interface quirks that distract from the game, such as awkward chip placement and improper punctuation on dollar amounts. In addition to that, the graphics and sounds are lackluster, and over time, the game begins to feel stale. There is an option to change table position, and the option also allows for the computer AI to take several table positions, but yet I never saw any of those AI players at the table with me. The option to play against others over the internet is the next logical step for this game, but not before the above interface issues are resolved. In summary, the program provides a nice variety of working casino games, but the graphics and sounds need to be improved, and the chip management bugs need to be fixed.

Pros

• Good variety of casino games
• Game rules and play are accurate
• Good way to learn the games

Cons

• Lackluster graphics and sounds
• Chip management bugs
• Computer players not shown

Overall Rating

3 out of 5 Mice