Here are some reviews and comments about Fathom It!, written by some of the foremost puzzlers in the business.

Kit Woolsey, one of the world’s top backgammon players, commentator and author:

"When I get my new issue of Games Magazine, the first thing I look for is the Battleships page. Your Fathom It! product is a dream come true."

"I am really impressed with the programming that must have gone into Fathom It!."

"What is really impressive is the program generation of the boards and the startup hints to guarantee uniqueness, and even better the problem solver."


[Ed.: Moshe Rubin, the author of Fathom It!, is the contributor of Battleships puzzles to "GAMES" and "GAMES World of Puzzles" magazines.]

Brendan Emmett Quigley, New York Times crossword puzzle writer:

"Mr. Rubin, I just wanted to say that whenever Games sends me a complimentary copy of their magazine, I only do the Battleship puzzles. Impressive impressive work."

Home of the Underdogs" Web Site (now defunct):

"Fathom It! is a fun and addictive puzzler that is an excellent computer version of "Battleships," a popular column that appears in GAMES magazine, among others. [. . .] In short, Fathom It! is one of the most addictive puzzlers I've ever come across, and well worth the $19.95 price tag for the registered version. Two thumbs up!"

Matthew Daly, maintainer of the rec.puzzles (newsgroup) FAQ:

"Just downloaded the shareware version of Fathom It!. It is every bit as wonderful as everyone on Usenet has been saying. Wonderful. 10 out of 10.... The user interface is a great improvement over pencil and paper (and erasers!) and the powerful yet easy-to-understand solver has already netted me a promotion from "Captain" to "Commodore"!"

Erik Hermansen, author of D.R.O.D. (Deadly Rooms of Death) puzzling game:

"He sure did a nice job on his solver. I was blown away by some of the explanations it came up with when I tried the expert levels ... Very impressive and pretty fun too"

Everett Kaser, Everett Kaser Software, author of Sherlock, Dinner with Moriarty, Solitiles, Hero puzzles, Descartes Enigma, Honeycomb Hotel:

"Yes, the solver is VERY excellent! ... Very impressive indeed."

"This is a very nice implementation of this game ... I highly recommend it to folks who like puzzle games!"

Wei-Hwa Huang, four-time winner of the World Puzzle Championships:

"I am suitably impressed; the solver has a good set of heuristics and should be helpful to anyone. The interface is very clean."

"... the awesome Battleships software Fathom It! ..."

Patrick Hamlyn, Perth, Australia:

"The program uses some pretty advanced logic to work out the expert level problems, and shows you that logic in English. Highly recommended."

Ben Herring, Fathom It! beta tester:

"... I look forward to playing the final version because as I've said many times before it really is one of the most enjoyable Windows games that I've ever played!"