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When I first received this game, I spent the best part of a weekend playing it. Since then, I have returned to it more often than any other.

The object of the game is to pilot your chosen team from division four to the league championship, on the way winning the FA Cup as often as possible. The game mirrors reality in that a good Cup run will give you greater attendances, hence more money at the gate. Conversely, losing too many games cuts your income and can result in you getting the sack.

You have a maximum of 16 players in your squad and can buy or sell as the situation dictates, borrowing from the bank as necessary. You can change players' names to suit your own foibles and prejudices. Unfortunately, your players must have names of eight letters or less, including initial, so there's no room for Kenny Dalglish!

Loading Football Manager for the first time, you are invited to enter your name and then choose a team from the 64 on offer. No matter which team you choose, you start the game in division four which must be particularly galling for Liverpool fans. If your favourite team is not represented, you can select any of the others and then change the name. You select your skill level from a choice of seven, ranging from beginner to genius. You then choose your team's colours - this is not too realistic as you are restricted to black or white - and the game begins.

The truly addictive quality of this game is the remarkable way it mirrors a real football manager's problems. Each player in your squad is rated between 1 and 5 in skill. This rating affects his price in the transfer market and his cost to you in wages. In addition, each has an energy value of 20 or less. Each game played reduces this value by one, while resting the player for one game boosts his energy by 10. Your team's performance will depend on values obtained from the skill and energy ratings of the players, plus a morale factor. Lose games and this goes down, making you more likely to lose again. This is identical to a real team's performance.

So far, the game is purely textual. Now the fun begins. Having selected the most suitable team for the forthcoming game (you have a dossier on your opponents' skills, morale and energy), you have to sit back, biting your nails like any real manager, while the game is played. This is done in a series of goalmouth scrambles. Successful shots are greeted by an electronic scoreboard flashing 'GOAL!' and the match score is displayed.

It should be stressed that this is not a short game - there are 15 games in a season, plus the various rounds in the FA Cup. To get from division four to the league championship at any of the higher skill levels is going to take you a week of playing every day.