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Rincewind, an inept magician, is quietly sipping a small beer in The Broken Drum, when a tourist arrives, seeking a night's rest. Strange, think the locals, that he reads everything he says from a little book he carries with him. "I wish for an accommodation, a room, the lodging house, full board..." The landlord is puzzled, and so Rincewind tries out his hand at languages, eventually discovering that the stranger, Twoflower, is actually speaking in Heathen Trob.

Delighted to be communicating at last, Twoflower invites Rincewind to be his guide and interpreter during his stay, and pays him six gold Rhinu. Such unheard of wealth spreads like wildfire in the city of Ankh Morpork, whilst the scheming Rincewind notices that there is a lot more where that came from.

Whether or not he will be able to get his hands on it is doubtful, for it is contained in the rather curious luggage accompanying the tourist. Made from Sapient Pearwood, the trunk is probably more valuable than its contents, and conveys itself after its master, on hundreds of little legs. Inside its lid are great sharp teeth, that are likely to snap shut on any unauthorised hand dipping inside.

And so Rincewind finds himself giving Twoflower a guided tour of his part of the Disc-world. The spinning disc-world is carried through the universe on the back of a giant turtle, Great A-Tuin.

Not being spherical like most other worlds, compass directions are a little unusual, and in the adventure game by Delta 4, based on Terry Pratchett's book, you will find that the usual directions of North, South, East and West, do not exist. Instead, you will have a choice of Hubwards, Rimwards, Turnwise and Widdershins. This, of course, will all be very confusing for the ardent adventurer trying to make a map - but I recommend standing the paper on its edge, and working from the far end, through.

Ankh Morpork is nothing if not a dangerous and chaotic place, and as Rincewind commences his duties, he is frustrated by Twoflower's naïve interest in a fierce tavern brawl, and other potentially fatal events. Before long, the Broken Drum is ablaze, and Rincewind is charged by Twoflower with getting hold of a couple of horses, so that they can escape the burning city through the Widdershin gate. Twoflower, it seems, is convinced that all that befalls Rincewind and himself is harmless - all laid on purely as a tourist attraction. He wants to capture the events with his iconograph, a device that produces instant pictures.

If you haven't come across one of these devices, let me explain that it consists of a little wooden box, inside which sits a picture imp, with palette and paintbrush. Unfortunately, a visit to the whore-pits leads to a shortage of pink, leaving the imp to semi-redundancy, when he sits atop the box, smoking a pipe, and commenting on life on the disc-world in general.

There are graphics at the more interesting locations (why no picture of the whore-pits, Fergus?) and they are nicely drawn. Once shown, each picture will only repeat if the LOOK command is used. In addition to tape or disk saves, RAM save is offered, making recovery from death a simple task for the prudent player. The game was originally planned to be a three-parter, but Fergus McNeill, finding he couldn't squeeze it all in, expanded it to four parts, each loaded in separately. A saved position from the previous part is required to get going on parts 2-4.

Don't expect an easy adventure just because it is fun! To start with, the wording can be a little difficult, and the best thing to do is to take your cue from the text - bearing in mind that before speaking to a character, a preliminary command of TALK TO - must be entered. Saying the right thing to the right person is undoubtedly one of the most difficult aspects of playing. But there are also plenty of problems within the game itself, to keep you guessing.

With skilful use of The Quill, Fergus, along with his Delta 4 colleagues Judith Child and Colin Buckett, have created a superb interactive adaptation of the book, in which the original mood and humour, and much of the detail, come through unscathed.