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The plot of Castle Thade is, shall we say, "uncluttered". You have to reach the castle. Finding that the castle is in plain view from the first location, things look pretty easy.

Wrong. Between you and your goal is a large black river, coming down from the mountains to the south, and going over a waterfall ahead. We probably aren't going to get over the river, so there's got to be another way.

That large boulder there looks a bit suspicious - let's try moving it. Hurruuurph! Ah ha! Eventually it rolls away disclosing a cave entrance.

Well, this doesn't seem too bad, does it? Despite the dreadful white on blue text, the game seems friendly enough. The descriptions are quite long and well written (the punctuation is a little questionable) and there's a fast response, too.

Unfortunately, the game goes downhill rather rapidly after that. It's Quilled, so the most common response to a command is "You can't". I followed the recently discovered path beyond the boulder, and lying on the floor was a torch. Whenever you find a source of light, you can bet you'll soon be plunged into darkness.

After a further thirty minutes, I still couldn't get it working. Had there been no battery or oil, I could have understood, but with no explanation as to why, my patience waned at an alarming rate.

If you are the first to complete this game, you win a Microvitec 1431 MZ STD RES colour monitor for your Spectrum. I can only recommend it to those in need of either that monitor or a dose of frustration!

Castle Thade is produced by The Spectrum Adventure Exchange Club, which arranges monthly 'swaps' between members, for a £1.25 handling charge, and promises a monthly newsletter.