Over the years the Home Computer Club has been doing some sterling work, albeit quietly. Those intriguing flyers that fall out of your computer mags that you promptly throw away could lead you to some intriguing discoveries.

Now it's not up to me to say whether such mail order clubs where you're committed to a certain number of selections a year are worthwhile - that's up to you, your collection and your wallet - but I do think it's worth celebrating (at times) the special favours that the club does for us all.

Which is what? Which is compilations just like this, okay? The deal works like this - HCC says "we can shift 10,000 of this compilation, what about it?" and the software company says "no problem, we were just working on exactly the same idea so the deal is yours if we can also package a couple of thousand to sell mail order or through a few shops". The result? Everybody is happy, both companies make money and so on - but there is one loser. That is the ordinary punter in the street who might really desire a good value compilation but doesn't belong to HCC and isn't quick enough to snap up one of the few vendor badged versions. The answer? Tough, no dice.

So, history lesson over, how does this compilation add up? Pretty well, as it happens. CDS has a good reputation for the serious, non flashy simulation (poker, bridge, etc, etc) and most of the company's good back catalogue is here, including the (then) state of the art chess program, Colossus Chess 4.0 - worth the price itself.

Of course, such packages are only going to appeal if you need or want a fair selection of these games. I would suggest that you might - none of them are going to impress the hell out of your friends when they pop round for an evening of joystick mania, but all are more than competent version of classic games - chess, backgammon, bridge, dominoes, pontoon and the like.

Be honest - aren't there evenings when all you want to do is play one of those games, if only to relive your pre-electronic youth? It's okay, you're among friends here - succumb to nostalgia and enjoy some solid (but never dull), more-than-competent game conversions.