Crash


Magnets

Author: Roger Keane
Publisher: Macmillan/Sinclair Research
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #5

Magnets

Magnets is part of the Science Horizons Series of software, and is educationally aimed to give an understanding of the polarity of magnets. This might sound like a rather dry subject, but the model has been simplified so that the attraction force operates only in two dimensions, and the scenario has been provided as a draughts board game.

The result is an entertaining game of strategy. It is played on a 12 by 12 square grid between two players or one against the computer. Each player has five supermagnets, one on the board at a time and 10 pawn magnets with a force value of one. The supermagnets are lettered A to E and each has an increasing power.

Each player's pawn magnets may be used to attract or repel the opponent's. A player may also combine his own magnets by lining them up so that their values are added together, and sucking up an opponent's pawn magnets will result in their value being added to the winner's pawn magnet. A further 25 pawns are stored in a bank and may be brought out on to the board at will.

To win you must either conquer all you opponent's supermagnets, or remove all your opponent's pawn magnets from the board.

Comments

Control keys: Y/N up down, G/J left/right, C to rotate, SPACE to move cursor
Use of colour: very simple, red, green, white and black
Graphics: just grid and colour blocks

Roger Keane

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