Question master?

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If you are part of the "in crowd" then you will have spent many an evening wracking your brains playing Trivial Pursuit, rather than getting tiddly down at the Dog and Duck. Now a computerised version has been released by Domark.

After loading, you are requested to enter the names of between one and six players. A comprehensive options menu allows you to alter several of the game's features. A timer can be used to limit the time taken by a player to answer a question, and you have the option of using a dwarf called TP as question master.

You may also load a new question file from this menu. There are eight such files containing over 3,000 questions in total, many of which are taken directly from the board game.

When the game commences a crude representation of the Trivial Pursuit board is displayed. Instead of rolling a die, TP throws a dart at the numbers one to six and all possible moves are then highlighted on the board. You move your token to your chosen square and one of the six subject categories will be illuminated.

The scene now changes to TP's study where it's time to put your thinking cap on. Questions can be of three types: A straightforward written question as in the board game, a picture question for which a projection screen is lowered to display an image, or a musical question for which TP turns on his cassette player to play a tune. Answers are not typed into the computer but spoken out loud, and you press the fire button or spacebar to reveal the correct answer. You are then required to enter whether or not you got it right.

The BBC Micro version of Trivial Pursuit is embarrassingly inferior to its Amstrad and Commodore counterparts. Make sure you try it out for yourself before handing over any money.

Carol Barrow