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Many potential text adventure authors who haven't the programming skill to write their own machine code epics can thank Gilsoft's The Quill for cutting away their shackles.

Larry Horsfield, the author of Magnetic Moon, is a case in point. Electron adventurers would not have been able to savour the delights of his imagination without an aid such as The Quill.

Although lacking the text compression - and hence the atmosphere - of the likes of Enthar Seven, Magnetic Moon is a revelation. It is a flight of fantasy with the feel of a Robico masterpiece.

You are Mike Erlin, second lieutenant of the United Planets Survey Service Spaceship, Stellar Queen. While searching for your sister ship, Stellar Princess, you discover an Earth-like planet with three moons. Suddenly, a powerful tractor beam forces you to crash-land on the moon where you are held in a dynamic magnetic force field. As a maverick hero, you have to free your ship, and gripping stuff it is too.

The game loads in three parts and each must be completed to go on to the next phase.

Part one is called Search for Source of Power and you will spend a lot of time and energy collecting much needed artefacts to continue the quest. You will need to escape from the Stellar Queen without the captain or crew noticing, then examine the wreckage of the cabin.

My advice is to LOOK UP and LOOK DOWN continually. Throughout the adventure, careful examination and manipulation of potentially useful objects is essential to success.

The start is one of the trickiest I have come across and the problems don't get easier as the game progresses. It's a bit of a mechanic's game with all the mending and manipulating involved.

All in all a most enjoyable mental exercise which I can recommend to the experienced adventurer. However, the novice should not be daunted as the Elk Adventure Club offers an excellent help service.

Pendragon