Posted 11:39 AM by Floyd

I have the Game of 99! I have the Game of 99!

Long ago, back when there was just barely a Soviet Union, I lived in a house on Skyline Boulevard that was even more remote than my current abode. I worked for Oracle and so did my four other housemates. One of my housemates had this old board game called the Game of 99. It was very simple; the components were a board with 100 holes numbered 1-100, some colored pegs that fit in the holes, and a set of cards numbered 0 to 99. The numbering of the holes started with 1 near the center, and spiraled around to 100 at an outer edge.

Each player had a hand of five cards. On your turn you played a card, and placed a peg at any hole numbered equal to or greater than that card. Then you drew a replacement card. The object was to get five pegs in a row. It was a simple and fun game, and was out of print, so I never got to play it after I left the house.

Yesterday I was at a game store and was scanning the new games. (One such game making its debut is a Civilization board game based on the computer game; you could get a hernia trying to pick it up.) I saw a game called Five Straight. Could it be ... yes! A remake of the Game of 99! I snapped it up and took it home. I have the Game of 99!

By the way, here is what I got for my $22.95 plus California's extortionate sales tax:

• A two-section plastic board that connects with two supplied spacers. White numbers on black plastic.
  
• Cards with numbers on them, black on white. No logo. No cute font.
  
• Plastic pegs.
  

If you buy a German board game printed in America, like Carcassonne, the quality is, oh, about 99 times better. Carcassonne for instance has beautifully illustrated cardboard tiles and wooden pieces.