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Give your laser finger a rest, take time out from defending the Galaxy against marauding meanies, and try your hand instead at this interesting and original game which simulates a sheepdog trial.

You control a sheepdog which tries to round up nine sheep. If left too long to their own devices, the sheep will eat the corn, carrots and other crops growing in the field. Your dog too can damage the crops by trampling them underfoot whilst attempting to drive the sheep away. Additional hazards to negotiate are two haystacks in the centre of the field and a river which takes up a large part of the left hand side of the field. Your sheep, of course, cannot swim!

When all the surviving sheep have been penned, your score is given and points deducted for drowned sheep and crop damage. The time taken is also displayed and points taken out for that, too. It is possible to end with a minus score, as I did on my first attempt, despite successfully penning five of the sheep.

Scores do, of course, improve with practice, and with the discovery that the dog can swim across the river.

It really is an advantage to have watched "One man and his dog" before you play, as the game is very realistic - the sheep move in an infuriatingly lifelike manner - they will sneak out of the pen while the dog is occupied elsewhere, and stampede if the dog gets too close, particularly the last two sheep.

The game has attractive graphics and runs in Basic at a gentle pace. It is easy to master the essentials of the game but difficult to get a high score.

The presentation of the cassette is, however, disappointing. The loading instructions are well hidden (on the cassette label) and the program is only recorded on one side of the tape. The other side is taken up with a boring bit of music.

I would unhesitatingly recommend Sheepwalk to all armchair shepherd, if it were not for the price. £7.95 is too much for this game, enjoyable and original as it is. How about a price reduction, Virgin Games, say to around £5.50?