"You've got Plotting!" The cry goes up around the building. The telephone never stops ringing and you can't get on to your CPC because everyone else is hogging it. The cart version of Plotting has been discovered still on sale and the AA office has come to a grinding halt.

Yes, Plotting is addictive. It's like Pang in that respect. Every night Simon and a (usually female) opponent spend an hour unwinding with a bout of two-player Pang. It's brilliant when... [Cut. You're supposed to be reviewing Plotting, not wibbling about Pang - Dave].

Sorry, I flipped out there for a minute. Now where was I? Ah yes, Pang. No, Plotting. Plotting is the single person's Pang. It's the game you play to unwind but there's no-one else around to play Pang. Plotting is a game for the interlekchewell type of person. To play it well, you have to kick start the grey matter.

I could tell you how to play it, but I don't know if that would actually help matters. Not that I'm saying you're thick or anything, but it's one of those abstract games that's pretty difficult to describe. The manual say it's as simple as grilling ice cubes - well that depends on whether you still want ice cubes or a grill full of water afterwards. Okay. I'll give it a go...

There are four colours of blocks, and they're arranged in a rectangle. You have a block chucking device that looks a bit like that refugee from Spud-U-Like. Seymour, but without the legs.

What you have to do is throw the block you're holding so that it hits a block of the same colour in which case both those blocks disappear. But don't worry, you don't remain blockless; the block that was next to the one that vanished flies out of the pack and is picked up by your block chucker.

Problems occur when you end up holding block with no like-coloured blocks to chuck it at. In this case you have to forfeit a go and use up one of your three spare all-purpose, any-colour-goes zapper blocks. When you run out of zappers, the game ends.

Each level has its particular qualifying number of blocks you need to get rid of. When you've destroyed the requisite number of blocks, ifs on to the next level. If there are several blocks of the same colour in a line and you hit the end one, all but one will be destroyed, and you'll get loads of points. Er, I seemed to be explaining things quite well until then but I think I've lost it now. Dave, help me...

[I suppose I'd better finish this off for her. Plotting is the sort of game to play when you have a spare five minutes. But don't be surprised if that those minutes turn into hours. Plotting is well worth the dosh - Dave].