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It is unusual to come across a text adventure with very short descriptions these days, and many critics decry abrupt text. That is no reason to condemn an adventure, providing the problems are well thought out and integrated.

There is also a positive advantage in short text, since on retracing your footsteps, there is no need to wade through masses of text to make sure that nothing has changed since you were last there!

The Avaunting is just such a game. It is available for the BBC B and Amstrad CPC464. The BBC version I played had an easy-to-read split screen layout and a crisp response. Thanks to the effective use of colour and text layout, it is possible to see at a glance where you are and what is happening with very little effort or eye-strain.

Starting off in the company of a frog at the village pond, your first task is to find the book that contains the secret to killing Grotty Betty, a local witch of ill repute.

This turns out to involve the use of "segments", thirteen of which must be assembled and... I'll leave you to read the book and find out!

Locations abound in the game and it is very difficult at first to run out of new places to go.

The problems build up as more and more objects are discovered and you find you can carry only four at a time! It is therefore a matter of listing them and then trying to decide which may be used where and how, to help you find the segments.

There are a couple of things about the game that niggled a bit. There are a few locations which are lethal to enter, but give no prior hint or warning. The lack of an EXAMINE command always leaves me slightly dissatisfied. And there seems to be a bit of a multiple-digging bug up there in the allotment. Other than that, not bad!

The Avaunting is from Ixion Software, who promise 50% of the profits to Ethiopia. Some of your money will be going to a very good cause so there's an added incentive to buy it!