Every once in a while, a neat little time waster comes along that allows you to work off stress or frustration in a simple but effective fashion. Windows 3.x had Solitaire and Minesweeper (much to the dismay of office managers everywhere) but Warp's own bundled games are somewhat lacking in their appeal to users. Luckily, some OS/2 shareware developers have stepped up to fill this void and done so admirably.

A good example of this is Whack-A-Mole by PsychoSemantic Software. This nifty little game is a digital version of the extremely common carnival and arcade game where players try to clobber mechanical rodents popping in and out of holes in a board. It's good fun at the fair and good fun on your PC screen too!

In the OS/2 version of the game (GIF, 10K), the moles in question pop up at random locations on your screen and your mouse is your hammer (complete with a bloody hammer for a mouse pointer) but the action required is the same old smash on the head reflex that you're used to. Probably not very politically correct (oh, those animals' rights!) but satisfying. I have spent many an idle moment whacking those pesky critters on their noggins!

The game's developer hasn't forgotten the extras either. There are satisfying little sound effects ("roadkill!") each time you whack one of the nasty critters and both these sounds and the default bitmap can be replaced by the user. So if you have a bitmap of a particularly annoying relative, co-worker or other, you can substitute it and really get some stress relief.

Like any good game, Whack-A-Mole is customizable. On top of the above settings, users can turn sounds off, change the number of moles per game and the speed at which they appear. The game also keeps track of high scores so you can impress your friends.

Basically, this game is small, fast to load and stable. It's the perfect thing for those short breaks between other tasks when you just need to unwind and waste some time.

Whack-A-Mole

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