All children who use a computer need to acquire the skills of letter recognition and keyboard familiarity, and it is those skills which this game sets out to teach. Each letter of the alphabet appears on the screen, first as a capital letter then in the second part of the game in its lower-case form; meanwhile a digger tunnels away at the bottom of the dam. The player must touch the appropriate letter on the keyboard to stop the digger, and thus prevent the water flooding the valley. The child can choose from 3 levels of difficulty which relate to the speed of reaction.

Dam and Blast 2 uses the same game format to provide a further extension of keyboard skills covering the numbers and symbols on the keyboard. This is of use for aspiring programmers, but also for children who may be using a computer for word-processing. This game was particularly popular with the younger children I tried it out on children who often become frustrated when their unfamiliarity with the keyboard spoils their enjoyment of a game. After a surprisingly short time, their responses became quite fast and this new skill was seen by them to have great relevance.

Control keys: after both games have been played, all the letters, symbols and numbers on the keyboard will have been used.