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Sentinel - the ultimate in game satisfaction! You'll need the patience of a chess player, the strategy of a general and the skills of a hacker to work your way through the 10,000 landscaped screens of Sentinel's world.

You become a robot - the only way you can move about the chequerboard world you find yourself in is by teleporting. Your task is to wipe out the Sentinel, a strange mechanoid being with awesome powers.

Each landscape is composed of three-dimensional solids arranged to form hills, valleys and plateaux.

There are trees - the basic unit of energy which should be absorbed where possible. To absorb any object, you place your cursor on the base of the square it occupies and press 'A'.

Remember that you too are safe from absorption until an enemy can see the base of the square you are occupying. You will be warned of this by the scan-indicator at the top right of your screen.

To teleport the robot creates another robot shell (if he has sufficient energy) and teleports into it.

If he wishes to increase his height, he may create one or more boulders to stand on.

It is best to gain a height advantage over your enemies wherever possible.

The Sentinel is usually in a high position on the landscape. To absorb him (your sole objective in the game) you will usually have to be above him, and this may involve positioning your robot on top of several boulders. He cannot move, but rotates (clockwise or anti-clockwise) at 1/12 of a revolution per turn.

When he is looking at you directly - his eyes are a different colour to the rest of his body - you will be scanned - as indicated by the gauge in the top right of your screen.

If he can see the base of the square you occupy this gauge will fill up with distortion, if not you will only be half scanned. If he cannot see you at all you are totally safe. When you are being fully scanned your energy will be drained one unit at a time, until you are destroyed, and it is best to move out of his line of vision as soon as possible.

There may be several sentries of these on certain landscapes and they act and move exactly like a Sentinel (although they look slightly different). You will hear them turning and the effects of being scanned are the same, although there is no indication of when you are being scanned by more than one opponent except that your energy disappears faster. You must always destroy the Sentries before you can take on the Sentinel.

Obviously you should build up as much energy as you can by absorbing all available energy sources. Absorbing a Sentry is worth one robot, and a Sentinel is worth one robot and a tree.

The Sentinel is the last thing you may absorb, and no other energy may be taken once he is gone. After this you simply place a robot where he used to stand and hyperspace - this will reveal a new security code to you.

The more energy you possess when you hyperspace, the higher the new level you can access.

Hyperspacing costs you three units of energy unless you are left in a position where you can absorb your old shell.

If you hyperspace without enough energy, you will be destroyed. When not immediately absorbing something it is best to remove the cursor, as scrolling is quicker without it.

There are over 10,000 landscapes to be explored. You get a glimpse of the whole area just before you materialise into a new landscape. This gives you an idea where all your enemies are - but it doesn't show where you are likely to materialise. That could be anywhere!

You need a code to access each level - and you only get these after successfully completing a level.

Sentinel is from Geoff Crammond, the programmer who brought you the much praised Aviator and Revs. Sentinel is nothing like his older games - in fact it's nothing like anything you've seen before. Challenging, entertaining and totally addictive. Check it out.