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Aaaaagh!! Take this game away from me! I can't stand it any longer!

This is one of those maddeningly simple games that has you staring glassy-eyed at the screen for hours on end. Don't buy it if you value your sanity.

Checkout is very similar to Arcade Software's Demon Decorator. The aim of the game is to colour in the squares on the screen by walking over them.

Once you've coloured in all the squares, you move on to the next screen and do the same thing all over again. In Checkout, however, you must cross each square twice before it registers the desired colour.

This is where the strategy comes in, because it you cross a square three times then it changes back to its original colour.

Arcade had an octopus patrolling their screen - Virgin have gone for a robot, which moves about at random and occasionally gives a blast on its lasers that cost you a life if you happen to be in the way.

My only grouse with the game is with the robot. It isn't intelligent, and never patrols the squares at the edge of the screen. However it does move quite fast, and you have to be reasonably careful when you venture out into the middle of the grid.

If you enjoy simple, compulsive games, then either Demon Decorator or Checkout will give you a good run for your money. Checkout has better graphics and more features, but Arcade's octopus has brains as well as brawn. You end up in the madhouse, whichever one you choose.