They just keep coming. Just about all of Nintendo’s original first party games for their dual screened handheld are simplistic yet incredibly addictive, and Clubhouse Games is no different. Featuring a horde of instantly accessible games of all types, Clubhouse Games is a blast that gamers of any and every age can get into. There’s tons of card games here, ranging from Blackjack to Texas Hold ‘Em; to go along with Chess, Checkers, Solitare, Pool, Darts, Bowling, and many more; all of which played using the stylus and touch screen to full effect. The visuals aren’t anything revolutionary, but they get the job done, and the controls using the stylus are nicely done as well. There’s more mini-games and extras to unlock as well through the Mission mode as you accomplish various goals throughout the various games, which adds even more to the incredibly high replay value. And speaking of replay value, Clubhouse Games features Wi-Fi capability, and to get the most out of the game you’ll have to use it, and you’ll be getting addicted to it even more. All in all, Clubhouse Games is yet another addition to an increasingly superb DS library, and for DS owners looking for some quick yet lasting gameplay, Clubhouse Games is a must own.

Clubhouse games rock!

Many of the games are available at the start, others you have to “unlock” for later.

Three modes of gameplay are available:
“Free play”: Play any game you have unlocked/play available games.
“Stamp mode”: Clear all the games in order (yes, each game, but you get stamps when you lose, so you’re not stuck on darts or whatever forever!) one stamp for third place or lower, two for second, three for first; three stamps and you can move on to the next game..a great way to familierize yourself with all the games, plus it’s the only way to unlock certain games
and finally,
“Mission mode”: Clear specific challenges to move on: Make X number of strikes in bowling, for example.

Some games are great, others stink, ditto to the music, but that’s not we are here..

There are only a few games available at the start as I previously mentioned:
*Basic Card Games*
old maid
spit (speed or war)
I doubt it (Cheat!)
Sevens
Memory (yes, memory!)
Pig

*Intermediate Card Games
Blackjack
hearts
president
rummy
seven bridge
last card
last card plus

*Advanced Card Games*
five card draw
texas hold’em
nap
spades
contract bridge

*Basic board games*
chinese checkers
checkers
dots and boxes
hasami shogi
turncoat
connect five
grid attack

*Advanced card games*
Backgammon chess
*three others to be unlocked:
shogi
field tactics
ludo

*Soda shake
dominoes
Koi-koi
*unlockable game
word balloon

*Action games*
bowling
darts
billiards
balence(“Jenga”)
takeover

*Single-player games*
Solitaire(Klondike/draw three, go thru deck once; standard/draw 3,6,or infinate, go thru deck infinate)
Escape
Majongg Solitaire(lots of different ways to play)

Whenever there is unlockables, simply touch the grayed-out icon to find out what you have to do to unlock it! There are even unlockables in the choose able icons and picto-chat features!

I love the instructions for most of the games! Anytime during a game, you can pull up a help window which will teach you the intricacies of a given game.

Now, this package isn’t without stinkers:
In Texas Hold’Em you can’t go “all in” or even “raise a bet”
in billiards and darts there is no actual ball physics, etc
however, there is a robust mode of solitaire(both “Klondike” (draw three) and “draw one”. Most solitaire games don’t have this, and I HATE “draw three!”) and majongg which are two of my favorite single-player games and I wasted hours late last night trying them out. The instructions to refresh my memory of majongg were flawless, complete with icons to help!

The computer AI is great, especially in chess and checkers! How many of us have played online or with an electronic hand held game, where you’d play a game against the computer and end up in a “cat” game? (Where no one wins or loses, and no one can move on)? or in chess, where the AI is stupid, and cheats? This one didn’t! It “thought out” moves, it made jumps or moves when I wasn’t looking, it even won sometimes, though so did I!

While the package isn’t without it’s duds it does have perks like redesigned/renamed versions of Battleship, Stratego, Trouble, etc(most you have to unlock), and Hanafuda, the card game that Nintendo was famous for before they got into video games in the 1800’s!

You can download all games(that you have unlocked) to another ds to let someone try them out, and many games can be played online through Nintendo’s wifi service, or a robust single-card and multi-card download play!

This is a great package overall, but some of the games could have been tweaked a bit more. I have Telegame’s versions of “Ultimate card games” and “ultimate pocket games” for the gba which has better renditions of poker and other games then this game, and I’ll be picking up their ds versions; but for everyone who has ever played solitaire on their calculator or hearts and poker on the computer, this game is a must-buy, especially if you have friends online. You can “picto-chat”chat with your friends or use generic phrases like “good job” and “one more game?” with random match-ups.

I’m glad I spent the money for this game, and while not all forty-plus games are available at the start, it’s fun to try to unlock them all.
This game deserves a solid 8 or 9 out of 10!
Go buy it, and I’ll see you online!