It is quite difficult to explain exactly what Siboot is about. The game basically involves exchanging information with other characters in order to work out your strategy for a nightly round of "mental combat" that boils down to repeated rounds of rock/paper/scissors. To win, you have to trade information with the non-player characters, using an iconic language in which you can not only offer trades but also make promises, express emotions, or just exchange small talk. The challenge comes from the fact that everything you do affects the NPCs' opinions of you. You usually can't win without giving information about your friends now and then, but if you do it too often or fail to apologize when they find out, you won't have friends for long (and no one will give you any more information and you'll lose). This emphasis on careful dealing with other characters and keeping track of their assessments of you (and vice versa) explains the game’s name, as choosing who to trust and who to betray is key to success.

Overall, Siboot is a masterpiece that is best experienced than described. It is a perfect game for an adventurous strategy gamer who is attracted to unique titles and has enough patience/perseverance to climb the steep learning curve. Anyone who takes the time to learn the ropes will definitely find Siboot a unique, intriguing, and rewarding game. Highly recommended!

Note: The Macintosh version available from Crawford’s website is version 2 of the game, which was released shortly after the first version. There is also a PC version. I hope more designers who own copyrights to their games follow his laudable steps to release out-of-print classics as freeware :)

It is also worth noting that Siboot represents Crawford’s first attempt to depict human interactions in a realistic way in computer games – a worthy effort that would morphed into a lifelong passion with his ongoing Erassmatazz project. No download of the game seems to be present though, but multiple posts describe the continued evolution of the game's ideas.