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The planet of the Dingalingers is under threat of nuclear war. The Ball, representative of the Astral Harmony Council, and his Intergalactic postperson courier, Thing, have been sent to liaise with the Dingalinger Overlord.

On arrival, the Overlord refuses to meet with the Ball until the Thing has completed ten tasks. Equipped with nothing but a telephone book, and accompanied only by his ally the Ball, the Thing is let loose over the planets' 26 levels, all of which are interconnected by a network of teleport booths.

A series of floating capsules contain objects which the Thing must collect and use in the correct combinations. The Dingalingers try to obstruct his work, but the Ball is equipped with a phased-plasma servocannon which has the power to stun.

If all the puzzles are solved in five days, the Overlord dispels his mood and rewards the Ball with an audience. Should Friday pass with the tasks still incomplete, Thing, Ball, Dingalingers and all, are doomed.

Joysticks: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: the cartoon characters are extremely attractive and cute
Sound: jolly title tune with spot effects

'Although arcade adventures are common on the Spectrum, Thing!'s tidy presentation and humorous graphics help it stand out from the crowd. Gameplay is moderately slow, sometimes with periods during which there is nothing to do but plod forwards. The shooting action is also a nuisance, in that Thing frequently runs Into the hostile Dingalingers, resulting in some short-lived gamest The strong brain-teasing element was enough to keep me playing, though, and if puzzles are your poison, I would suggest you exchange a couple of coins for Thing!'

'Thing! is quite nice, graphically, with a couple of rather cute-looking characters fighting off the treacherous Dingalingers, and attempting to complete the tasks set by the Dingalinger Overlord. These puzzles are quite simple, but are challenging all the same, and will probably take several games to solve. Once completed however I feel the game will lose its appeal, but until then, just keep going!'

'The ridiculous storyline of Thing! warns you not to take this game too seriously, and the cartoon style graphics create an atmosphere of absurdity. Most of the problems are just an excuse to make some very silly jokes (it's easy to work out what to do with an American Express card, but what do you do with a CRASH reviewer…?). Whether you like this sort of thing depends entirely on the depths to which your sense of humour is prepared to sink. £1.99 doesn't seem such a bad deal to me.'