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Mind Pursuit is essentially three Trivia-orientated games in one. When the program first loads, a number of options are presented. From these, you can choose the number of players playing (one to four), their names, the type of game you wish to play, and the time limit to the questions. You can also change the parameters of whichever type of game you choose to play (i.e. how many points you need to win a game, the time limit of the game, or how far across the board you need to go).

The screen then shows a die and one of the player's names is highlighted. The screen prompts the highlighted player to press the space bar; doing so 'rolls' the dice. The number 'thrown' corresponds to a subject - sport and games, science and nature, history and geography, TV and film, culture, or grab bag (a general knowledge category that gives you the opportunity to throw the dice again if you correctly answer a question).

If you are playing the point or time limit game, each question comes in three categories: fill in the blank, multiple choice or true or false. These are effectively three difficulty levels and more points are awarded for answering a 'fill in the blank' question than a 'true or false' question.

If you wish to tackle a 'fill in the blank' question, the computer prints a question and you must type in an answer. The computer isn't too fussy about spelling and will accept most misspelt answers.

A multiple choice question provides four different answers and you must choose the correct answer by pressing the relevant number on the keyboard. True or false questions are simple enough - just press T or F on the keyboard to answer the question.

When playing the board game, each player is given a piece which can be moved along a path by correctly answering questions. Each 'stone' in the path has a number on it, either 25, 50, or 100. If you are faced with a 25 stone, you cart answer any difficulty level of question and are moved along accordingly (skipping over, say, two 25 stones and a 50). If you're faced with a 100 stone question, though, you must answer a 'fill the gap' question, otherwise you can't move along.

At the end of any game, the computer displays a screen showing the ranking of all the players and the percentage of questions answered correctly.

I must say, I enjoyed playing this. But in the light of other Trivia games, like Powerplay and Trivial Pursuit, it pales. The program has quite a few bad presentation points, like its speed of operation, the naff graphics and sound effects, and the fact that it always gives the answers. Silly.

The three different types of game are all quite nice, but really US Gold have missed the Trivia computer games boat.

This game has its work cut out for it. The questions are well thought out (it can even work out an incorrect spelling in an answer, to a degree) but it's way behind in the presentation stakes and theft what counts in these games. Definitely the best part of the game was the points system.

It put an interesting twist into an otherwise hackneyed game design. A plus point. In an ideal Datasoft world, this game would be quite respectable and sell well. However, too many good competitors already exist and life is not going to be easy as a result.

Oh my god, another Trivia game. And not a very good one at that. As disk only products go, this is poor. A large proportion of it is written in basic, and as a result there are numerous presentation flaws and the game is horribly slow to play.

Mind Pursuit isn't outstanding in any way and not in the same class as recent competition. Trivial Pursuit and Powerplay have a lot more to offer for less expenditure.

Presentation 78%
Although the program is easy to use, it tends to be rather slow and laborious.

Graphics 34%
Only the board game option uses graphics, and they're pretty bad.

Sound 37%
Very few musical questions, but there are ditties announcing the various categories.

Hookability 74%
Very simple, but slow to use.

Lastability 73%
There are plenty of questions if the program appeals to you.

Value For Money 60%
A rather costly disk only product.

Overall 69%
A good Trivia game, but not in the same class as Powerplay and Trivial Pursuit.