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This is the Dragon version of the mathematical game in which you have to guide a Pacman-like creature around the screen, eating numbers and signs to make a pre-set total.

It is written entirely in machine code and auto-runs on loading. There are keyboard and joystick options and plenty of levels of difficulty.

The display is rather cluttered, with several different boxes displaying your progress to date.

At the higher difficulty levels, where the action is very fast, steering the gulper presents at least as many problems as the arithmetic.

Persuading the gulper to eat the numbers as he passes them also takes a little practice.

One irritating point is that the signs follow the numbers rather than preceding them, e.g. 5/ means divide by five. This may confuse some children.

The instruction leaflet is comprehensive but the small print suggests it is intended for adults. It would have been nicer to have children's instructions as well.

However, Number Gulper compares well with the other educational software currently available, and my daughter enjoyed it.

M.N.