EXHIBIT 99.2


                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                       HEURISTIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP ANNOUNCES
               LETTER OF INTENT TO MERGE WITH VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES, INC.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, APRIL 6, 1999 - Heuristic Development Group, Inc. 
("HDG") (NASDAQ:IFIT) announced today that it has entered into a Letter of 
Intent to merge with Virtual Communities, Inc., a privately held developer 
and publisher of Internet based communities.

Founded by President and CEO Avi Moskowitz, VCI currently produces three 
sites: Virtual Jerusalem (virtualjerusalem.com), Virtual HolyLand 
(virtualholyland.com) and Virtual Ireland (virtualireland.com).  With over 
5.6 million page views during January, 1999, Virtual Jerusalem represents the 
largest aggregated community on the Internet for Jewish and Israel related 
content. Virtual Jerusalem currently has over 150 agreements with content 
partners and advertisers and is a portal to over 9,000 Jewish related sites. 
The Virtual HolyLand site, launched on Christmas Day 1998, is focused on the 
70 million members of the Evangelical Christian Community for whom the Land 
of the Bible is a constant focus. The Virtual Ireland site was launched in 
March 1999 and is targeted to approximately 50 million persons of Irish 
descent in the U.S.  In late February, the Company began to implement its 
marketing plan which includes a radio, print and television campaign and a 
keyword agreement with Yahoo!.

Under the proposed merger, HDG would acquire VCI in an all stock transaction. 
HDG's existing common stock and Class A and Class B warrants would remain 
outstanding.  VCI's stockholders would receive approximately 11.1 million 
shares of HDG common stock (subject to adjustment), representing 
approximately 87% of HDG's common stock after the merger (assuming no 
exercise of HDG warrants and options).  HDG would change its name following 
the merger to Virtual Communities, Inc. and VCI's Board of Directors and 
management would become the management of the merged company.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 1999, subject 
to the negotiation of definitive agreements and the satisfaction of certain 
conditions, including obtaining the approval of HDG's and VCI's stockholders 
and an opinion from an investment banking firm satisfactory to HDG that the 
transaction is fair to HDG's stockholders.

Avi Moskowitz, VCI's CEO said, "While most Net companies are treating the 
World Wide Web as if it were yet another mass medium, VCI is concentrating on 
what makes the Internet and the World Wide Web a truly new medium: the 
ability to provide information, products, services and community gathering 
and discussion places specifically tailored for people who are widely 
dispersed geographically but who share common passions, backgrounds and 
interests. VCI has taken the lead in figuring out how to build a real 
business based on this concept of serving virtual communities over the Net."



Added Jonathan Seybold, HDG's Chairman: "We believe that VCI provides an 
outstanding opportunity for HDG's shareholders. By developing a group of 
web-based communities that act as portals for a targeted affinity group, VCI 
has established a very compelling business model that can be replicated 
across various demographic groups. With the infrastructure now in place, VCI 
is positioned to leverage the obvious power of the Internet."

In addition, HDG announced that it is suspending its share repurchase program.

Statements in this release which are not historical facts are "forward 
looking" statements and "safe harbor statements" under the Private Securities 
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and/or uncertainties, 
including risks and/or uncertainties as described in HDG's filings with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission.