3d Setback Pitch

Freeverse Software's 3D Pitch (aka Setback) Deluxe is a 2003 Mac shareware adaptation of Pitch - the trick-taking partnership card game known as Setback in New England - rendered as a 3D table of animated, talking computer opponents with optional internet play against real opponents.

Setting and theme

The game leans into Freeverse's late-1990s and early-2000s house style: a brightly lit virtual card table surrounded by a rotating cast of cartoon characters who chatter, react to plays, and can be customized with user-supplied face images dragged onto each player. The aim is to make a fairly old American card game feel hospitable to people who have never sat at a Setback table in person.

Gameplay

Pitch is a bidding-and-trick-taking partnership game scored on High, Low, Jack, and Game. The Freeverse version supports both novice and advanced skill settings, ships with the most popular rule variations, and includes a built-in tutorial for first-time players. Online play matches users against other live opponents over the internet, while offline play uses the AI cast.

Development and release

The Deluxe edition was distributed by Freeverse as 23 MB shareware (registration $19.95), with a publication date of February 20, 2003 on Tucows. It was part of Freeverse's broader 3D Card Games line - which also included 3D Hearts Deluxe and similar titles - that the company used to anchor its shareware catalog through the OS X transition. Freeverse eventually discontinued the Pitch/Setback title following the release of OS X Lion in 2011, when the underlying classic-era code stopped running on modern Macs.