Prepare yourself for a trip around Acheton in search of huge riches and supernatural powers in the first of these two text adventure games from Topologika.

With no graphics or sound effects you have to be pretty committed to the genre before you're going to want to tackle these games with the disk's frustratingly slow access time which you come across every time you fail to survive - on top of being insulted as a rank amateur in your early attempts.

In Acheton, you have to explore the country and preferably make a map up as you go along so you don't get completely lost and disorientated, although it's not particularly easy since the action takes place on three dimensions - up trees and down mines, for example. You've also got to be prepared to spend time and effort thinking about the best ways to solve the problems you come across, although there is a Help system which is pretty good. The whole thing's competently written and sufficiently large to keep you engrossed for ages.

Kingdom Of Hamil is also on the disk - it's the same text adventure concept but here you start off stuck in a chapel at the start of your quest to regain Hamil. Inconveniently, any attempts to escape through the doorway and a 16 ton weight falls on you, just a "slight setback" as the program describes your instant death.

Both games are very frustrating by turns but the thrill you get when you work out one of the puzzles of get one of the jokes is amazing. All you need is your imagination, lots of commitment, a pen and paper and you're off...

1. Two classic games.
2. Needs intelligent effort to play.

1. Can be frustrating.