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Kemshu is set on a square board that is split into 100 multi-coloured squares. The objective is to change all the colours on the board to a single target colour, indicated at the right of the screen.

Using a cursor, squares can be moved across the board in rows. Four blocks of the target colour need to be placed around a differently coloured block to transform it.

Changing the colour of all the squares within the given time limit gains access to the next level. A status box to the right of the screen shows the present score, the percentage of screen area covered, time limit and the target colour.

Joysticks: Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: bright and functional
Sound: none
Options: definable keyboard

'Brainstorm (90%, Issue 52) almost drove me up the wall with its simple but addictive gameplay. Kemshu has similarly tied my brain into knots. The graphics are simple but effective you can't go far wrong with a screen full of coloured blocks) but sound is sadly missing - a cheerful tune would have gone down well. Control is easy to master, so you don't spend hours rifling through bedsheet-sized instruction manuals. The saved time can be put to good use puzzling over the best way to solve the game. Overall Kemshu, although not quite in the Brainstorm league, is a simple strategy game definitely worth the £1.99 price tag.'

'Puzzle games seem to be few and far between - it's nice to see that software houses haven't abandoned the genre completely. The idea behind Kemshu is very simple but play gets quite difficult on the higher levels. If time is running out, the action can become quite frantic. The game involves quick thinking rather than complex strategy. As you try desperately to complete each level, success often depends more on lucky reactions. As every round involves exactly the same type of basic strategy (only the decreasing time limits add variety), gameplay does get repetitive after a while. Kemshu lacks the variety of a game such as Brainstorm but it is very playable in the short term.'