Casino XXX

Anyone who knows gambling with the cruel mistress that is fate is a mug's game has probably put themselves through the torment that is Revels Russian Roulette.

Few live to successfully tell the tale of carefully picking their way through the minefield of innocently chocolate-coated spheres without encountering the intolerably evil coffee flavoured one.

We're less sure about layering a sexual connotation on the roulette theme though. It seems more in keeping with the sort of shocking STD adverts you'd find courtesy of NHS Direct in the gents' loos.

Still, FDG Soft clearly reckons otherwise as it's taken those three popular casino games – blackjack, craps and roulette – and garnished them with a smattering of sex appeal. The result is Casino XXX, a good-looking effort that does the best it can combining gambling standards with girlie pictures.

The concept behind Casino XXX is a simple one. Via games of the aforementioned gambling game trio, you must build up your bank balance with winnings. As your cash increases, you in turn unlock a picture of each of the sexy ladies. There are five in total.

A major plus point is you can decide which of the three available games you want to play, immersing yourself in your chosen game for as long as your heart desires to win your money and ultimately add to your gallery of pictures. Or you can flit between each one, just like in a real casino. It's perfect if you have a favoured game or even one you want to practice.

The biggest drawback to Casino XXX, however, is the element of averages that the game has been programmed with. In essence, it's slightly too unforgiving for our liking.

In blackjack for example, you'll have a hand amounting to 19 or 20, say, and, of course, the sensible option is to stand as the chances of going over 21 and busting are very high. Yet the computer often will trump you with a better hand, playing its last card to get a perfect 21. Very annoying.

There's no doubting Casino XXX's overall polish, though. There are some nice graphical touches such as the spinning roulette wheel, not to mention the almost hi-res images of the girls. Even the seedy, Vegas-style theme tune has a fun element to it.

Clearly, sex sells and the developer knows that the presence of naked girls will give a simple casino gambling simulator such as Casino XXX extra pull at the download portals.

But it would be wrong to dismiss this solidly put together game out of hand just because of the smut. Despite being fairly harmless stuff compared to the graphic nature of what's available elsewhere on the internet, the girls do add some extra reward and frisson to the process of building up what would otherwise be abstract virtual cash.