8th Day Software is one of the new breed of "cottage" software houses that have grown since the advent of The Quill. What makes the company different from most of the rest is that their games, once priced at £1.75, still cost only £2.50 each. The co-directors of the company are Michael White and Gary Kelbrick, who also write all the games using The Quill.

I asked them why their games cost so little compared with other Adventures, and their answer was quite controversial. Gary and Michael both think that 99 percent of Adventure games on the market are overpriced for what they contain and feel, to a certain extent, that many games are written badly, story-wise, with unoriginal problems. Naturally, they also feel that their games are always original and worth every penny.

So I thought I'd take a look at this series, to see if it is all that its producers claim.

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This game was written by Michael White and is concerned with events after a deadly virus is released into the atmosphere from a high security research station in America.

The virus has killed most of the old technology and recruit five members to form a team to travel across the States to disarm nuclear weapons which have been left unguarded and still threaten the remaining population.

This game is well thought out, and quite difficult. At the start, you are standing at a petrol station. A few seconds later, a car crashes into it and explodes. From inside the car you hear screams. If you manage to rescue the occupant, he will help you with your mission.

The game continues along these lines and is quite fun to play.

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Without doubt, the best game of the series is Quann Tulla, and I think this should be picked by by a major company. The story is of an evil empire that has fought a long and bloody war with the Just Foundation. The Foundation is losing, and your mission is to destroy some top secret manuals, kill a traitor and destroy a crippled space ship.

The game takes place aboard your flagship and progresses through space to a far distant alien world. This may prove too difficult for beginners, but the experienced Adventure nut will love it, especially its weird objects such as the lead ball and lighter-than-aid docking badge! Great stuff!

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In this one, you are cast as a secret service agent who must defeat the evil genius Stirling. Stirling, it seems, has planted a nuclear bomb somewhere near the south pole. Setting off, you find yourself standing in the freezing snow, from where you move on to discover ice floes, yetis etc. which must be overcome before killing the maniacal Stirling.

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This is one of the easiest of the series and is based upon Ian Fleming's early novels. You are cast as a rather poor man's version of James Bond and you find a dead CIA agent floating face-down in the Thames. From there you progress around the world trying to stop an organisation known as "The Company" from taking over.

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This has to be one of the most spine-chilling games available! It has nothing whatsoever to do with the notorious "Pink Fairy"!

The plot is, to say the least, complicated with many sub-divisions. You are sent off into the underworld to find the three treasures of Isi-Tunn, and it's not easy!