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The release of this program raises the interesting question: are there any Spectrum owners who are actually interested in bowls?

I suppose there must be one or two, but I doubt whether even they will he all that interested in this program.

The trouble is the graphics. You're presented with a picture of the green with the Jack marked on it. Using this, you set a pointer to indicate the direction of your shot, and a number to set the strength of it.

But then comes the disappointment. Instead of a lovely depiction of your bowl gently curving toward its final destination, its path is simply indicated by a dotted line.

And once more than a couple of bowls are in position it's impossible to make out whose bowls are where.

You do then get close-up views showing the positions more clearly. But you have to take the computer's word for it that all the collisions have been properly worked out - you don't get a chance to actually see these happening.

It's a two-player game, and after each 'end', the program announces which colour is the winner. This is just as well because, even the close-up view doesn't show the position of the bowls precisely, and after all that effort it would be a shame not to know. But this is a basic simulation written in Basic; and basically, I don't recommend it.