THE DOPEWARS FANTASY

To the Editor:

It's no great mystery why the game DopeWars should be so popular with
computer and Palm users ("On the To-Do List: 1. Make Crime Pay," March 15).
In an age when company chief executives earn hundreds of times what their
workers do and workers can be replaced at will by temps and contract
workers, what can be better than playing a drug kingpin?

GARY L. ADLER, Lynbrook, N.Y.

To the Editor:

I have played DopeWars myself and became addicted - irony intended - to it.
The game is indeed simple, entertaining and intriguing. But I am a
science-fiction fan as well as a gamer, so I was far more intrigued by a
clone of the game entitled SolarWars (cronus.cnicinc.com/solarwars).
SolarWars has the same game play and the same interface, with a few
enhancements: you must always have fuel for your interplanetary freighter
on hand as you move between planets (rather than boroughs) and other
disasters can befall you.

I would recommend SolarWars as an alternative to anyone who does not agree
with the theme of DopeWars and who doesn't mind some additional challenges.
While I think that the current furor over DopeWars is a bit much and a bit
late, I don't regret having played it one bit.

JENNIFER SCOTT, St. Louis