pocket bagatelle

Many traditional games, which have been passed on unchanged from generation to generation, can now be simulated electronically (see, e.g. `Marbles` in Elektor 21, January 77). In particular, `video` games, which utilise the screen of a TV set to represent the field of play, have achieved enormous popularity in recent years, and with the advent of more and more complex `games chips`, this trend shows little sign of slowing down. However there are still many electronic versions of popular games which can be played without recourse to a TV set. One of the more simple (but not necessarily easy!) games, which is ideally suited as a small Christmas present, is `bagatelle`.