Sinclair User


Hampstead

Author: Joanna Pegum
Publisher: Melbourne House
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Sinclair User #33

Hampstead

A DREAM COME TRUE IN NW3

Hampstead is, well, Afghans and jogging and all sorts of things. And Hampstead Man is, well, Jeremy - off to the city, playing squash, and taking Annabel and Toby out for a crepe.

If you have ever wondered how Hampstead Man got there, you should try some software written by and for social climbers. Hampstead is not, after all, just a place - it's a way of life. And believe it or not, Hampstead Man may come from the humblest of origins.

Hampstead

To get to Hampstead with nothing but a UB40 and a tracksuit you have to know the form - what to wear, what to say, which newspaper, which muesli - and you may have to lie, cheat and steal to get there.

Collect the Wykehamist tie, passport to clubland and merchant banking and extract Art from an industrial labyrinth. Head off for Cambridge and Richmond - but be careful. Seek out Pippa, and then get round her father. Only when you have done all that are you ready for Hampstead.

Hampstead is a text-only adventure, written on the Quill. Using an all-purpose program limits the scope of the game, and Melbourne House, which produced The Hobbit, could have done better. A more serious irritation is a racist bias. Was it really necessary to have a grinning Pakistani in a north London Post Office, a 'foreign' voice on the station tannoy and middle eastern races selling hamburgers?

Despite its flaws you are sure to find Hampstead an entertaining romp up the social ladder.

Joanna Pegum

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