Spades Zeb

Spades Zeb is not a standalone game but an opponent character plug-in for Freeverse Software's Spades Deluxe, adding the alien Zebulon Pesci as a computer-controlled opponent at the card table. Spades Deluxe is required to use it; on its own the file does nothing.

What it is

Freeverse's Spades Deluxe shipped with a roster of computer opponents, each with their own portraits, voice samples and behavioural quirks. Spades_Zeb extends that roster with one extra character. Once installed alongside Spades Deluxe, Zebulon Pesci appears in the opponent picker and can be slotted into any seat at the four-player Spades table for solo play against the AI.

Who is Zebulon Pesci

The character is one of Freeverse's running gags: a strange, gangling alien from a planet just below Orion's Belt who has been monitoring Earth television since the 1950s and developed an obsession with The Untouchables and Rat Pack movies. Exiled by his fellow aliens (who tired of his Earth-isms about jukejoints and posterior-probing equipment), Zeb relocated to Earth in his saucer to wait out a screen test from Martin Scorsese, killing time playing cards, smoking Luckys and hurting cattle.

Requirements

You must have Spades Deluxe installed for the plug-in to do anything. The character file is intended for the Spades Deluxe family on Classic Mac OS, distributed by Freeverse as a free add-on alongside other character/room plug-ins (such as Masiak's Castle, the Transylvania-themed room plug-in for the same game).

Provenance

Submitted to Info-Mac by colin at freeverse.com under the filename Spades_Zeb.sit, this is one of several Freeverse plug-in/character downloads from the late-1990s shareware era when the studio was actively expanding Spades Deluxe, Hearts Deluxe and other card titles with downloadable opponents and parlour rooms.