The skill shapers

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Here is a set of three good programs for helping with basic maths skills. The first, Lander, is a fast-reflex test of skills at multiplication and division. You choose which you want to try and then must keep furiously typing in the correct answers to the problems which flash up on the screen.

Success determines whether or not the alien lander will make it to the Earth.

Every calculation you get right gives it a boost away from landing, but if you don't answer fast enough or you get the answer wrong then the lander gets nearer and nearer, eventually reaching the ground.

You can choose how hard to make this game by selecting tables, 2, 5 and 10, up to 5, up to 10 or up to 12. Also you can select the speed of the attack, from 1 (this is impossible) to 5 (this is still pretty tough for those of us who use calculators usually for adding 2+2).

The second program, Treasure Search, tests coordinates and direction. You have to try to find an object hidden in a grid of boxes by a wizard. When you find one he hides another, until after four successes he gives up and goes off to haunt another computer.

To look in any box you give the X coordinate (1 to 10) and the Y coordinate (1 to 20). If there's nothing in that box, an arrow points towards a box with something in it.

You can choose to either have the arrows remain on the screen or not. Every time you find an object, which might be an emerald if you're lucky or just an old bone, you're told how many tries it took and the time involved. This is a fun way of consolidating ideas about coordinates, as well as general spatial relations.

Third in the set is Number Spin, an action packed fruit machine to help with subtraction and addition practice. You can select the speed of the game and the highest number you want from 10 to 999.

Then the three wheels spin and in true arcade style you get features like "hold" lights (which let you keep the value of that reel fixed), and "nudge" which you use to add or subtract values to the reels to try to get the first two reels or all three matching. The sound effects are great, and it is a fun way of learning, without the tedium of endless pages of arithmetic practice.

This is a good example of the type of quality software which the BBC Micro deserves, and should easily find a place in schools and homes.

Jane Jackson