I Remember Concentration

Growing up in Toronto in the early 1960's meant access to about five television channels through the TV antenna -- seven on a clear day. Three of those channels were the Buffalo NBC, CBS and ABC affiliates. After the Canadian channels finished the children's programs, I spent a lot of time watching Hugh Downs host Concentration on NBC. The "feel" of the show — the rotating prisms with the slides and puzzles, the sound of the motors that controlled the board, the prizes sliding on and off the prize board — stuck with me over the years.

Twenty-three years later I needed a project to apply C programming skills to, and I Remember Concentration was born. I have tried to capture the sights and sounds of my memories in this DOS-based program: a three-dimensional, low-resolution shareware re-creation of the original Concentration game seen all those years ago. If you remember when a large, noisy electric board was high tech, you'll enjoy this. All the original features are back: takes, forfeits, wild cards, thirty slots for puzzles, prizes and more! The game is downloaded as a ZIP file. Save it in a spare directory and use your favourite ZIP utility to extract the game. After extraction, run "IRCONCEN.EXE" to play. Click here for the rules and installation instructions. If you remember Concentration, you will find this version recalls some of the syndicated version (with Jack Narz) along with the Hugh Downs version. The syndicated version used larger numbers on the board and colour puzzles on a white background -- which works better on a computer. Everything else sticks to the original. Enjoy!

Click here to download "I Remember Concentration" . . .

I REMEMBER CONCENTRATION is distributed as shareware. You may copy and distribute this software freely, provided that each copy you make contains ALL of the programme's files, completely unaltered. You may not collect a fee for this software (other than fees for media and/or handling costs). All copies of this software are subject to these same conditions. If you enjoy playing I REMEMBER CONCENTRATION, you are requested to register your copy. For a registration fee of $10 (U.S.) or $15 (Canadian), you will receive the latest update of the software, plus a printed copy of the rules and documentation, and at least 75 picture puzzles. Please see the opening panel of I REMEMBER CONCENTRATION for details. Thanks for your support!