Ataxx is a strategy game similar to Othello/Reversi. It's supposedly based on an old arcade game with the same name, and has also been known as Hexxagon.
Ataxx v1.01 for the Pilot (dated 9/17/97) used to be available here, but PilotGear is now PalmGear, and there's no longer a program by that name in their database. So I searched the web and found a fairly comprehensive Ataxx web site here.
I first came across this game as a puzzle in the computer game The 7th Guest. Because the pieces made a sucking noise as they moved, I called the puzzle "Sucks", which had a double meaning: I couldn't beat the computer, which meant I couldn't finish The 7th Guest, and that sucked.
So I wrote a little DOS app called Sucks to help me beat The 7th Guest at its own game. It asks you to enter each side's move, so that it knows where the opponent has moved, and so that if you're feeling confident, you can choose your own moves. Otherwise, enter -1, and it will compute what it thinks the next best move is. By entering -1 in place of your opponent's move, you can also compare Sucks' choice of move to your opponent's; however, since there's no "undo" command, if the opponent makes a different move, the games will be out of sync, and you'll have to restart Sucks and re-enter all the earlier moves.
You're welcome to play with the Sucks source code and MS-DOS binary. It was originally compiled with one of the Microsoft 16-bit C compilers, circa 1993, but you shouldn't have much difficulty getting it to compile with almost any C compiler. Contact me if you have any questions about Sucks.
My friend Bob also wrote a version of Sucks that used a form of "bit boards". Here's Bob's source code and MS-DOS binary. Which is faster? You be the judge! ;-)
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