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A policeman's lot is not a happy one, especially if he's the new Superintendent of Middleton and responsible for the policing of its 90,000 inhabitants.

In the new icon-driven strategy game from APS you have to plan your available forces not only to control the daily crime rate but also to stop events like football matches and meetings getting into the headlines.

You can control and assign the three shifts from each of four divisions to various policing tasks. But be careful - your superiors have a close eye on you.

The game is played through a series of weeks in which you must keep Middleton as peaceful as possible. This isn't going to be easy as it is a sprawling town full of disastrous sixties housing, post offices and banks ripe for stealing and shopping and entertainment areas which are the joy of pickpockets. Then to round off your problems, you have to direct the traffic around the ring road on Sundays.

The mechanics of the game in the use of the icons is at first confusing but soon you'll be more concerned about disturbing community relations by sending in the special reserve than what each icon does.

If you enjoy a strategic challenge then this one's for you. I must dash as I've only been in the job five weeks and I've got to find some mounted police to help out with next Saturday's football match.