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Fancy winning yourself a colour monitor for your Spectrum? If you are good at adventures, here's your chance for the Spectrum Adventure Exchange Club are offering a Microvitec monitor to the first person whose correct entry is drawn out of the hat on October 21st. All that stands between you and your prize is the small problem of Castle Thade.

The land of Kral is ruled by the Lord of Darkness and his evil is spreading everywhere. Could it be a coincidence that Thade is an anagram of Death? The council and the Powers of Light have selected you to penetrate his castle and strip him of his powers. Should you succeed, a stranger will give you a message, written in unusual symbols. If you can manage to translate this, send off your entry form.

The game (which is Quilled), starts off with you on one side of a wide river and the castle on the other. All around you are impassable mountains and a horrendously thick maze of forest. I found the forest somewhat annoying as there are locations that you can enter but never leave, which in my book at least is a trifle unfair!

The game is text only with some good, atmospheric descriptions. The vocabulary is claimed to be over 200 words, although have you noticed, you can never seem to find the combination you want! You can examine certain objects only and it would have given greater effect to be told that "you see nothing special" rather than just "you can't".

Minor grudges apart, Castle Thade has some interesting problems (such as being crushed by sliding walls or bitten and captured by a giant spider) and will keep the old grey cells ticking over. Prizes are not meant to be won easily! SAEC can be found at 4 Kilmartin Lane, Carluke, Lanarkshire ML8 5RT. The game is available by mail order only.