Although first published some months ago, the prospect of 21 games for your BBC Micro at an equivalent price of 30p each (approximately) is obviously still attractive, particularly at this time of year. So let's see how good these games are. The introduction to the book also claims that the programs are intended to improve the reader's knowledge and use of Basic, so the design and structure of the programs must also be considered.

The book itself is generally well produced, the printing including that of the program listings is clear and readable, and the screenshots of the various games have been reproduced well (in black and white) though it is sometimes difficult to make much of the display without reading the text as well.

If you expect dynamic, action-packed arcade games, sophisticated thought and logic puzzles or engrossing adventure games, you will be disappointed. You would probably get better value for money by buying a single commercial game program on cassette. Despite this,the games are varied, if somewhat dated now (noughts and crosses, space invaders, horse racing) and still offer plenty of good, cheap fun for those who are still comparatively new to computing. Most of the programs are of a reasonable length, so not too much effort is needed before you can start playing.

As examples of good programming technique thought, these programs certainly leave a lot to be desired, and indeed one might well suspect that many of these games have been converted rather badly from versions written in much more primitive dialects of Basic than that of the BBC Micro. Frequent use is made of GOSUB, and not a little of GOTO as well, leading to programs that are difficult to follow, resembling the proverbial plate of spaghetti in the convoluted twists and jumps involved.

I would not recommend this book as any way to learn good programming and I am only moderately enthusiastic about the games, which now seem rather outdated.