Bumpers is a novel variation on the maze-game theme. In this one the maze
is invisible and instead of playing against the computer, you can play
against a friend. The two players, represented by a blue and a yellow head, start
at the top left and bottom right corners of an empty square.
You can set the size of the maze before the game begins. Maze walls only become
visible when you bump into them. Naturally, some of the walls are booby-trapped.
Touch one, and you lose the game immediately. Since it's impossible, at the
early stages of the game, to figure out which walls *are* booby trapped, there's
no point worrying about where they are, just look out for the three walls at
each dead end.
The game has a number of refinements. If you choose to play against a friend
rather than the computer, then you both get the chance of laying three booby
traps of your own. The machine plays a little tune as you lay the trap, so
unless your opponent is hard of hearing, he can try to memorise your position at
the moment the tune sounds.
You can also spoil your opponent's attempts to feel his/her way through the
maze by manoeuvring your token over the other and pressing the fire button.
This transports your opponent to a random location elsewhere in the maze.
The one worrying factor in this game was a tendency for the soundtrack to
build up in pace and keep racing on even when the game was over. It sounded
suspiciously like a bug to me. But perhaps there is a solid strategic reason
why the programmer wants to force you to turn the sound off after ten minutes'
play. Fun if you like this sort of thing.