If we were rating strictly on objectives, this'd probably be a 3.5/5 at most. But, well... As a youngin, this was one of the first PC games we recall playing, just because it was one of the few PC games we even had growing up (courtesy of our grandma). And we think that might've changed our brain chemistry forever to love card motifs and also enjoy weird as heck obscure computer games. We owe a lot to this game, is what we're getting at, and for that, we'll always love it.

Even looking back on it, this is a pretty damn solid compilation of card games. I've actually checked out the other Hoyle PC games, and while plenty of them are actually pretty good, as far as I've been able to play, this is handily the best of their card game offerings, hands down.

To compliment this specific version of the game though, lemme tell you about one of our favorite weird little mechanics ever added to a video game ever: the Hoyle Bucks and Spacemaker features alone are one of the most fun character customization features... Ever? We wish other games adopted a similar format to it, honestly. To briefly summarize it: this game has an Achievements system in which you can obtain the same achievement multiple times, but the harder the achievement, the more of a fictional currency you get. (For example, properly using the trash pile in Rummy 500 is only worth 1 Hoyle Buck, whereas something like a Royal Flush in Poker is easily worth thousands just on its own.) And from there, you can spend that fictional currency to not only decorate your little digital avatar and change other visuals around the game. The Hoyle Bucks system is in other Hoyle games, but what Card Games 2005 has that those other ones don't is the Spacemaker, and it's GLORIOUS. It goes one step above the usual avatar customization that other Hoyle games have, and honestly, most other video games Period. For a tiny bit of context, in Hoyle games, below your avatar is this little game show-esque plaque--your avatar is basically from the chest-up. Spacemaker lets you decorate that plaque and the immediate area around it with all sorts of little trinkets. Some of them even have animations or sounds if you click on them, which is a delightfully needless silly little touch.

It's such a simple addition to the customization, and it's such a small change to a baseline achievement system... And yet, it's basically the perfect combination of customization and achievement system we've ever seen in a video game. This one thing alone is what keeps us coming back all these years on, with such a fun twist on the usual achievement system that also directly ties into a fun twist on the character customization system. And like... In a game from 2004, before achievements were even really "a thing" in video games (Also surprise, this game was from 2004)? Someone out there was programming this game in 2034, and we're still a decade behind them even now.

(Note: while we've reviewed this just off of what we know of the Hoyle games as a Hoyle--er, whole--we've also heard some of the oldest games in this series had straight-up Sierra adventure game characters in there as your opponents??? That, we have to see.)