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I thought Pi-Mania was the reason I'm two stone overweight until I received Automata's new adventure program for the 48K Spectrum. Advertised as "The Adventure Game that's for Real", there is more than just satisfaction awaiting the person who cracks this puzzle. If you interpret the clues correctly, you can work out the time, date and place where someone will be waiting to hand over the 'Golden Sundial of Pi'. The Sundial is £6,000 worth of gold, diamond, lapis lazuli and obsidian, crafted by the award-winning designer, Barbara Tipple. The prize is on show at Southsea, and will also be displayed at computer fairs and exhibitions (accompanied by Securicor, I hope, in case anyone things of a less subtle method of winning it!).

The program starts in a none-too-friendly way with dire threats against anyone attempting to pirate Pi-Mania. Then you have to work out the 'key' which unlocks the First Gate of Pi, and you get to meet the Pi-Man for the first time. This all-singing, all-dancing little creature appears from time to time in the adventure, and may help or hinder your progress.

The adventure itself is not a particularly large one, around 20-30 locations, with only short descriptions. The locations are logically connected, and you move between them by entering a number, which may or may not have been suggested in the description. Objects are randomly scattered around, and a pretty odd bunch of objects they are - a cross between the 'Generation Game' conveyor belt and the adverts that come after. A cuddly toy, hula hoop, pork pie, baked beans and quite a few objects are to be found, although I didn't have time to do anything very useful with them afterwards!

The program's vocabulary is described as 'absolutely vast', but if you exclude the objects and words which have no useful effect, the actual vocabulary is pretty small. The processing of words entered is reasonably quick, but if the phrase is not understood or a number is entered which is not a valid exit, the command is rejected and the location re-displayed on the screen. This makes the game rather slow to play.

Automata are (in)famous for their ZX81 'cans of worms' programs, and despite the attempt to go up-market with Pi-Mania, some of the program is distinctly seedy. Rancid sewage pipes flow into clogged canals, watch out for the scab-infested odorous pit and you can guess what the sound effects are when you collect the baked beans! If frustration causes you to use language more suitable for the 'can of worms', you will be harshly punished by the Pi-Man.

Where the program does score is in the large number of tunes and the clever use of moving user-defined graphics. The tunes range from the Hokey Cokey complete with dancing Pi-Man to a gratingly not-quite-right rendering of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, when you collect the valium!

I didn't have sufficient time to work out how the objects relate to each other or to the locations, so I haven't any idea what the solution is or what form it might take. But with so many objects, tunes, locations and graphics, some or all of which may provide clues to the treasure, there's certainly many hours of detective work to put in.

Pi-Mania is £10 and is available from Automata Ltd, 65A Osborne Road, Portsmouth PO5 3LR.