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Now and again, it is refreshing to sit back and play through a game at a reasonable pace, without having to rack one's brains at every step.

Yes Prime Minister is just such a game, and although there are no puzzles, there are some very tricky decisions to make, and plenty to think about during play.

For a period of five days you become Jim Hacket, the country's best loved Prime Minister who never was. The game is based very closely on the very popular BBC comedy series - so closely, in fact, that the result is quite astonishing, and very entertaining.

You operate from your office, which is represented graphically, viewed from your side of the desk. The objects around the room are icons, and selecting them using a hand-shaped cursor, moved smoothly around by either joystick or control keys, allow desk drawers to be opened, phones to be answered, and other functions activated.

Play is in real time, and your clock is a constant reminder of your appointments for the day, which are found written in your diary - you can bet Sir Humphrey will not be pleased if you miss one!

As PM, life is never dull, for during the odd few moments when you are not attending a meeting, you're kept on the go the whole time.

Bernard keeps plonking urgent messages on your desk, and if you're not dealing with one of these, there are two phones and intercom to keep you busy, as well as telex messages to receive.

Behind the Union Jack on the wall is hidden a safe, in which the latest opinion poll ratings are kept. The object is to increase these from the initial 50%.

Somehow, I managed never to register an increase - a slippery slide into unpopularity verging on hate was the hallmark of my premiership - so I'll probably win the next election.

The real play comes during the meetings, which take place in dialogue form, throughout which you have to make decisions.

How would you deal with such thorny issues as the need for a new nuclear power station? What are you to do to avoid becoming a laughing stock when your daughter manages to get her car wheel-clamped outside number 10? And how about reducing teachers' pay if their pupils' exam results don't come up to scratch?

The situations throughout the game are generated on a random basis. Not all topics come up in every game, and it's unlikely that you will get the same combinations twice.

At the end of each day, data for the next day must be loaded into the program before proceeding.

If you haven't had experience in making prime ministerial decisions, don't worry. Bernard and Sir Humphrey are always on hand to point you in the right direction - usually the one in which they want you to go!

The cross talk between the two of them, and their interaction with you, is extremely well implemented, and conveys the mood of the TV series and the facets of the characters in it more closely than any other game I have seen.

The only difference here is that you are in the hot seat, and feel that you have actually taken on the characteristics of Jim acker!

The dialogue is impeccably written, and as might be expected, Sir Humphrey often comes out with sentences a whole screenful long, superficially profound, but absolutely meaningless in reality!

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable and untaxing game, that is every bit as fun as watching the TV programme. Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorn and Derek Fowlds positively jump out of the screen.