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Adventure games can be generally likened to a puzzle which has to be unravelled in a certain order or sequence to complete it. I know there are a couple of notable programs of this genre which have more than one way of solving them but these tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

Arcade games can generally be summed up as requiring fast reflexes and usually consist of shooting, chasing or dodging. It is here that the biggest overlap with our chosen feature exists. Many arcade games now have a strategic element and it is almost impossible to separate the two styles. However, we have tried to categorise a large number of the programs on the market and made our own decision as to which group we were going to allocate them. The fact that a game has been omitted does not mean it doesn't have some strategic elements and we recognise that many of the latest generation of arcade games need as much (if not more) of a strategic approach than many we included in our list!

This feature is entitled Wargames, but we are including most of the games which require thought, strategy and luck. Unlike adventure games, to win you have to get many factors in your favour, balance between a multitude of options, and it helps to be a little bit lucky. Also, there is usually more than one way to win.

At the heart of any good program of this type is an algorithm which takes into account all of the relevant factors, balances the importance of each (and this may change at various stages of the game) adds just enough - not too much - of a random, chance factor and presents the results of that turn.

In board games in particular the algorithm may be replaced by a selection of options included by the programmer and the computer needs to pick the most appropriate responses to the player's moves.

Many moons ago when I was writing/converting programs for the ZX81 I came across the first of this kind of game, called Stockmarket and sold by ASP for the BBC and other computers. I made the conversion (which I'll put in the mag one day) and I have been playing the game ever since!

Probably the most complex of the strategy programs; these range from recreating actual military scenarios as in Arnhem, Battle Of The Bulge, Battle For MidwayViking Raiders, Nato Alert or Rebelstar Raiders.

Lothlorien are probably the company most associated with this style of game and have made great strides over the past few years, their Confrontation along with Red Shift's Apocalypse are probably the most well known and successful games so far. These are both fairly traditional and tend to operate essentially in 'move time' and are predominantly text-based. The advantage of this is that you can go away and think about your next move, saving the game at various stages as you go.

Although this appeals to the deep thinker, it lacks realism in so far as you couldn't wander off in the middle of, say, the Battle of Waterloo, and come back a few days later to make your next attack. If that has been the case, Napoleon would have been overjoyed, and we would probably all be speaking French!

The first game to impress me with real time continuous action was Stonkers by Imagine (the original company) and this is still available through Beau-Jolly. I have not yet managed to beat it, but then, he who fights and runs away...

The new generation of programs seems to be following this continuous action idea and I have also been beaten at the Bulge and at Midway. You really need more time to get to grips with them than this job allows. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

CCS, Cases Computer Simulations, pioneered this type of program and have brought them to a tremendous degree of sophistication. Their earlier programs tended to be a little too random, but the latest releases provide a plethora of options.

In this category is one of the most consistent best sellers ever written for the Spectrum or ZX81 or most of the other main machines. Kevin Toms' Football Manager, marketed by Addictive Games. Over the years it has developed from ZX81 text only to an all singing, dancing, graphics wonder. A teacher I know considers it the only thing capable of keeping an awkward class engrossed.

There are many variations on this theme, Addictive themselves are about to produce one or two, in the meanwhile American Football, New Wheels John and Formula One are favourites of mine.

All the programs in this feature depend on a strategy element of some kind, the ones in this particular category are oddments in a way, they didn't seem to quite fit in any other section.

Archon and Chaos are almost but not quite board games and keep me occupied for many hours, and one day I'm going to find the time to give Alien, Shadowfire and Broad Street the attention they deserve.

This section gave us our biggest discussion as most really fall into the arcade games category with success depending on the strength of your wrist and the durability of your joystick.

Still, a few, in particular the Golf games - always a favourite with ZXC readers when we publish one - have a great deal of strategy involved.

We include as full a list as we could get, and suggest you check them out at a shop if you are in doubt as to whether they meet your requirements. Personal favourite: The Forest, a graphic orienteering simulation from Phipps Associates.

Flight Simulations have been popular for as long as computers themselves. One of the first acclaimed programs for the ZX81 was Psion/Sinclair's Flight Simulation which was rapidly converted for the Spectrum.

Hewson Consultants produced their version which operated impressively in 16K and then took off on a different tack with their Air Traffic Controller series. They have come down to earth with their latest and quite brilliant simulation, Southern Belle. Great for us, aging computists who can actually remember steam trains. I have never been able to master any of the flight simulation programs (I have only five digits on each hand) but Belle has enough simple options that I actually succeeded.

This is another type of program which has found favour with ZXC readers. The race to produce the best Chess program was another of the earliest endeavours. In my own collection I am proud to own the amazing 1K ZX81 program. It may not be sophisticated but it's a masterpiece of programming.

There is much controversy about who has produced the best chess program so far. Each has different strengths and features and we have printed whole articles comparing just two. Without sticking our necks out, Masterchess, Cyrus Is Chess and Superchess 3.5 have a large number of supporters. It is worth mentioning the graphically amazing QL Chess, which I saw at a microfair, the company haven't sent us a review copy so I can't comment on its playing ability but it looks superb.

Board game conversions tend not to be my cup of tea. I do see the value of using the computer as an opponent when a human one isn't available, but for me the joy of playing is the contact with other people. Having said that, I must own up to an occasional sneaky game of Sinclair/Psion's Scrabble and Backgammon.

So there we are, it seems that whatever our most secret desires, be it changing the course of history, making a million, flying a plane or driving a train, there is a way in which the humble computer can pander to those dreams.

There has been some comment at times over the undesirability of bloodthirsty games. Automata have taken a stand and claim there is no overt violence in their programs, a bit of smut maybe, but no violence. My personal view is that, provided that there is no gratuitous, tasteless graphic violence and as long as over everything there is the realisation that it is just a game, no harm is being done.

I know there are arguments both for and against this point and I have no intention of starting a long discussion on the topic. Quite simply I hope you enjoy this feature and I apologise if I have given offence to anyone.

Within this broad confines of this feature I have listed as many programs as I could find under general headings. As I have said before, there are many programs which are hard to categorise and so we have exercised our opinion and omitted any which we believe to be primarily arcade games.

Our apologies if we left out any which you or the company think should have been included. This may not have been because we considered it to be arcade but because we hadn't heard of it!

If we have omitted any which you think we should have included then drop us a line and we'll put the record straight.