Software Farm, a leader in ZX81 games, turn their hand to the Spectrum market and, as could be expected from a company who established and pioneered hi-resolution graphics on a machine never designed for them, it is different.

The programmer must be a fan of Heath Robinson. For those who don't know, Robinson was the inventor of the trivia machine, a whole room of complicated machinery linked together to perform some simple act such as lighting a match, and this is the aim of the game. You are presented with a task (the first is to flush the toilet!), and a graphic representation of a set of objects. These may be selected and positioned in various places to create a machine to perform the desired task.

Not all of the objects may be required, and some may be needed more than once. The actual task can only be successfully performed when you duplicate the machine that the programmer intended you to use. My moan is that I created several devices which I'm sure would have worked, only to see them collapse when set in operation. Another quibble is the accuracy that is needed in positioning the objects, there appears to be very little room for error.

This is an unusual program which will appeal to the lateral thinkers among you and to those of you who enjoy tinkering around with mechanical things. You'll need a lot of patience though.