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The mighty Arcadian Empire is tightening its grip on the galaxy, and leaders of the secret earth organisation SAROS prepare you for a daring mission to strike at the heart of the invaders - to destroy the QUEEN computer that controls and organises the Arcadian troops.

Travelling as a merchant, you must seek out earth spies who have sent on ahead to discover the nine binary digits that will let you into the building housing the computer.

Standing on the computer deck of the Caydia - your ship - you follow a pre-programmed flight path to the planets Tropos, Halmurus, and Arcadion.

As you near Tropos, the Caydia computer reports an unidentified craft following your flight co-ordinates. You try evasive action, and in doing so intercept a message from the craft: UHILOL EK IKA GRAZDXZ.

A sinister alien tongue or a secret coded message?

Meanwhile, you make a quick tour of the ship, to equip yourself for your visit to Tropos. Should you take the space scooter for landborne transport? Chance would be a fine thing - but never mind, your repair droid has that situation well in hand! Well, perhaps on the next planet...

The faint smell of domestadroid reaches your nostrils as you explore the passenger cabins. Obviously the hydrobeds have recently been serviced. Eventually, armed with rations, a weapon, and a few other essentials (or perhaps they are completely useless?) the Caydia lands and, after wrestling with the airlock controls, you disembark.

Passing through customs at Tropos can be a tricky business. Leaving the spaceport itself can be even more damaging - but as you won't have time to sample the night life perhaps you will persuade the natives to let you through.

Now to seek out your contact, and start in earnest on the trail of the binary code you need for the grand finale. Is he in Cos-Mop, the not-so-friendly galactic store (motto: You buys it, you keeps it), or perhaps the local hotel?

The game is full of humour, and there are plenty of strange gadgets to learn to use, such as the Phonic Fork, or Zelta Blanket...

Let me warn you now - Stefan Ufnowski has not only produced some excellent graphics, but he has a mind so evil that before completing the game, you may well wish you had never taken the cassette out of its case!

Many of the graphics are animated. You will be able to watch the universe unfolding through the observation port, (but only when Caydia is in flight), and you will actually witness the death throes of one of your contacts, as he slumps in agony during his last moments. Will you be able to help him in time to gain the vital information he has?

Using a split-screen format, the location text is always displayed, with conversation scrolling beneath. The locations are described with continuous text, using "flannels", and as the game proceeds, the script updates.

For example: "You are standing on the Caydia's command desk, display screens flicker, control lights flash; through the observation port the universe unfolds before you" is what you read as the story commences.

After Caydia lands, the description is still one sentence, but ends: "...through the observation port, maintenance droids are visible refuelling docked spacecraft."

Although based on the Fighting Fantasy book of the same name by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston, Stefan openly admits that the adventure only loosely follows the book.

"What really frustrates me in an adventure, is getting stuck and not being able to do anything else without solving a particular problem," he complains. So in Rebel Planet he has arranged things so that if you get stuck on one planet, you can go on and try to sort out the problems on the next one, and so on.

"Of course, in the end you must solve all the problems to complete the game, but it does give the player a chance to tackle the whole game."

If Stefan enjoyed writing the game, then I had twice as much fun playing it. It has a fresh approach and that devious sort of wit that has one laughing with rage on discovering the answer to many a problem.

Hang on! I think my droid's sorted the scooter problem out for me! I'm off. I've been dying to take it for a spin ever since I came across it in the cargo bay! But before I go, a quick warning! Beware the Cragsnapper!