Christmas Wish List

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good boy this year. So, I deserve lots of presents. Santa, here is what I want for Christmas.

• No Spyware or Adware. I want a spyware free 2006. I get so bummed when a cool looking game comes along with some evil spyware or adware. I feel violated and delete it as fast as I can. If you want to make some money off your game, charge us $10.
  
• Mainstream Coverage of Puzzle/Logic Games. I want mainstream gaming magazines to provide some coverage of puzzle and logic games. I am only asking for a little coverage. They used to cover our games. In the "Strategy and Puzzle" section of this year's Games Magazine top 100 computer games (Dec 05), there were 9 games listed. None were puzzle games. All were strategy games. So sad. Blogs like this one are fine, but they are inherently biased and limited.
  
• GNU Bridge. There is GNU Backgammon, GNU Chess, and even GNU Go. For GNU Bridge, there is only an empty directory. What is the deal?
  
• Game Theory. Here is an odd request Santa, I would really like a logic game based on game theory. In it, you would have to figure the right mixed strategy in order to complete the levels or beat the computer. A simple example of such a game is footsteps. Another example is the battles in Heroes of Might and Magic. Doing well in these battles requires some knowledge of game theory. I not quite sure what I want, but I will know it when I see. For the curious, here is good book on game theory with many applications to puzzle games.
  
• More Fan-Made Levels. I want more fans to take the time to make levels for their favorite game. After completing a good game, you can extend the joy of that game for others by putting together a good level set. I am as guilty as anyone in this regard. Maybe, I should make this a new year's resolution.
  
• Good Remake of Oxyd. One of the most disappointing moments of the year for me was playing Oxyd 2.0. At least we have enigma.
  
• Smart Games 4. Smart Games is a series of compilations of puzzle games. Each combines some old classics with some original gems. They are very well done. I would love a fourth edition.
  
• Original Games. I know this somewhat contradicts my previous two requests, but I would like a couple of new original games. Something that catches me by surprise and pushes my brain in new ways.
  
• Sprouts. I want a computer version of sprouts. Sprouts is an interesting topological graph theory game. Here a java version for human vs human play. Writing a version which plays against you might be difficult. It is not even clear how to efficiently compute a list of possible moves. A couple of other links: World Game of Sprouts Association and Google Directory. There has been some research on sprouts.
  
• Liberating Abandonware. Sometimes, the copyright holders of older commercial games release their games into the public domain. The Liberated Games site keeps a list of games which have been released. There is only one puzzle game in list: glider. I would like more copyright holders to release their games. If you have stopped selling the game, liberate it and keep us from having to dip into the legally murky world of abandonware.

That is all I want Santa. Happy holidays and peace to all: Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, and any others I may have missed.

Jimmy