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Man has reached out to the stars and found many inhabited planets, but none with intelligent life. In the year 2130 it is decided to set up a zoo of alien life-forms for a population always seeking bizarre new entertainments.

Then man encountered the Senissa, an alien intelligent race, from a Planet some 200 light years distant. In signing a treaty, the Senissa presented Earth with a Seal (no, not one of those things, with flippers that swims!) to be put on display.

But when it comes to unloading, the precious Seal has gone missing - carried off by one of the strange creatures. Your job is to find and retrieve it.

This is a promising scenario, with overtones of Strange Odyssey. But this text-only adventure, in two parts, is Quilled, and not very well, at that.

All too often comes the reply "You can't", with no indication of why. Have you not the correct object? Are you in the wrong place? Or are both words recognised, but the action invalid? There's just no way of knowing.

Many words are unrecognised, and the number seems greater than it is, due to the "You can't" feature. Although EXAMINE is a valid word, I have not yet found anything that can be examined. This, given a subject as imaginative as an alien zoo, fails to exploit the full potential of the scenario.

The first problem, of course, is getting into the zoo. But the solution doesn't come anywhere near the classic 'entering the game' problems, as found, for example Pyramid Of Doom and Mystery Fun House.

Clwyd offer a Clueline postal service, entitling purchasers to ask two written questions during each of the six months following date of purchase.