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Win a colour monitor if you can solve the coded message at the end of this competition adventure. Your task is to free the Land of Krai from the Lord of Darkness by entering his domain (the fortress of the title).

Actually, this terribly unoriginal plot is irrelevant, because it's an excuse for loads of entertaining, tricky puzzles to be assembled as a test for more advanced adventurers. Plenty of often ingenious sticky situations, with some infuriating mazes thrown in. Another particularly likeable touch is the inclusion of a useful RAMSAVE/LOAD command.

The most impressive feature of the game however is the text at times astonishingly verbose and lengthy for what is, after all, a Quilled Spectrum game. Atmospheric, descriptive, and important to read - vital clues to problems are buried deep within...

Something had to suffer to fit it all in memory; unfortunately this was vocabulary and messages. The former is very tight (a common flaw in Quilled products), whilst the lack of the latter makes play less fun and harder - an unresponsive EXAMINE command for example, somewhat counteracts the brilliance of the text. You seem to be able to do very little apart from what is necessary to solve the game.

Castle Thade is a surprisingly worthy product (when I first saw the amateur presentation, my heart sank!). The puzzles and text are excellent, sadly marred by the points I've mentioned. Still, sensibly cheap and recommended to the hardened adventurer. Available mail order only, from 4 Kilmartin Lane, Carluke, Lanarkshire ML8 5RT. Incidentally, I'll be looking at the services offered by the club who produced this next issue.