After starting up the game and the intro credits, you'll see the game selection screen. Click on any of the games to start it.
Opponents / skill selection screen
When playing Checkers, Dominoes, Backgammon, Yacht or Pachisi (so any game except Snakes and Ladders), you'll need to select 1 to 3 opponents, with each opponent having a predefined skill level at each game.
You can swap between good guys and bad guys by pressing the control in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
To select an opponent, click on his or her portrait. To know the opponent's skill level at the selected game, click on his or her name tag. While skill levels are overall mixed, Vohaul is unquestionably the strongest opponent, being an expert at each game. Click the OK button after selecting your opponent(s) to start the game.
The skill levels are as follows:
Checkers
Dominoes
Backgammon
Yacht
Pachisi
GOOD GUYS
M. Goose
Beginner
Beginner
Average
Expert
Average
Roger
Average
Average
Expert
Average
Beginner
Rosella
Expert
Average
Average
Beginner
Expert
Graham
Expert
Average
Average
Expert
Average
Laura
Average
Beginner
Expert
Average
Beginner
Larry
Average
Expert
Beginner
Beginner
Expert
Patti
Average
Beginner
Expert
Average
Average
Jones
Average
Beginner
Beginner
Expert
Beginner
Sonny
Expert
Average
Beginner
Average
Beginner
BAD GUYS
Adavis
Beginner
Expert
Average
Beginner
Beginner
Lillian
Beginner
Average
Beginner
Expert
Average
Mr. Big
Expert
Beginner
Average
Beginner
Average
Arnoid
Average
Expert
Expert
Beginner
Average
Vohaul
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Baba Yaga
Expert
Expert
Beginner
Beginner
Expert
Mordack
Beginner
Expert
Average
Average
Expert
Lolotte
Average
Average
Beginner
Expert
Beginner
Sheriff
Beginner
Beginner
Expert
Average
Expert
Toolbar
At any point during the game bring your mouse to the top of the screen or press ESC to access the game's toolbar.
The toolbar provides the following options.
CONTROL: Click on this to access the control panel (see below).
OPTIONS: See the options of the game you're currently playing. Each game has different varieties in game play and some also have different displays.
SCORE: See the game score of the game you're currently playing.
RULES: Read the rules of the game you're currently playing.
HELP: Click this button to turn the cursor into a question mark. Then click on any control on the screen to receive an explanation about its function.
Control panel
Click on 'CONTROL' in the game toolbar to access the control panel.
GAMES: Return to the game selection screen.
QUIT: Quit Hoyle 3 and return to DOS.
REPLAY: Restart the game you're currently playing from the beginning.
ABOUT: See the version of Hoyle 3, the game credits and ordering information.
HELP: Click this button to turn the cursor into a question mark. Then click on any control on the screen to receive an explanation about its function.
OK: Accept the settings and return to the game.
TEXT: Set the slider bar higher or lower to decrease or increase the display duration of text balloons.
VOLUME: Set the slider bar higher or lower to increase or decrease the game volume.
