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Nasty Nazis are why the Dungeon Master is stuck atop of a ski run. But Mike Gerrard is by no means off the piste

Valkyrie 17 is the name of the adventure, the RamJam Corporation's first release, in which "The red kipper flies at midnight" - a phrase whose meaning may be revealed at some point. Valkyrie 17 is a group of ex-Nazis with the simple aim of taking over the world.

They plan to achieve this by manufacturing a super-weapon, to help re-establish the Third Reich. Or will it be the Fourth? Time enough for such questions afterwards. For now you must concentrate on stopping them, bearing in mind that they have already murdered one of your colleagues.

You have no idea how you hope to foil the fanatics, but some clues are given in an ingenious idea - side one of the cassette contains the program (Spectrum 48K at the moment, Commodore 64 soon), and when this is loaded you flip the tape which then becomes the cassette you find in your Answerphone when you get home. You listen to several breathless messages from a contact, read the accompanying dossier and set off, maybe even wearing the metal badge to get you into the spirit of the game.

If you hadn't spent £9.95 on the adventure, you might have had some cash for a drink in the first location, the bar of the Glitz Hotel. A remark to the woman seated there produces the response "I'd lof a trink, dollink. Unfortunately, trinks cost cash and you have no Grotniks, as the barman reminds you. This location has accompanying graphics in the top half of the screen, as do about half the places you visit: those that don't have reasonably lengthy text descriptions about the locations.

The graphics are nicely done, although slowly drawn, and the option to switch them off would have been welcome. In some places where you can open things (safes, windows) the picture is redrawn to illustrate this, and altogether there are over 100 places to visit.

> Roaming the hotel you find the maanger is also after your Grotniks, for he won't let you leave without paying your bill. In the reception area there's a telephone, which sometimes rings with a pleasing double-trill from the Spectrum. Sound is also added to the responses, which scroll up the bottom half of the screen, in the form of a mini-chord which plays to tell you the "What now?" prompt has appeared.

The responses are rather slow, unfortunately, and a little tidying-up could have been done here, too.

More tidying-up needed in the broom cupboard, where your clothes get covered in dust. Happily, a solicitous chambermaid appears to ask if you've been standing in a broom cupboard, and dusts you off. Could this be one of your mysterious contacts? Sadly, she disappears before you can talk to her. And what of the voices you can hear through the ventilation grille in the laundry room? And what's this... sheets in the laundry room? Not allowed out of the front dor of the hotel? Looks like the old knotted sheets routine has been programmed into this one.

> A full exploration of the hotel is necessary before attempting to flee. However, escaping isn't exactly straightforward. Entering one of the bedrooms reveals a blonde wig and a black silk dress. Can you wear them? Yes, of course, and very fetching you are, too. But I'm not sure that the manager is convinced, for the next time he sees you he offers you his lipstick. And he still won't let you leave.

The adventure has a healthy helping of humour, and I especially liked the swearword routine, but I'll leave you to discover what that one is. Some of the responses definitely raise a smile, such as the one you get if you try wearing skis and snowshows at the same time. Skis suggest a ski run, and outside the hotel, if you make it, there is indeed a ski run, but marked "For experts only". I'd read the book hidden in the hotel and believed I knew everything about skiing. Skis donned, I issued the fearless command DOWN (having cautiously SAVEd first, of course) only to be told my footwear needed attention. This is where I remain, too, after exploring every location in the hotel I could, spoken to everyone I've met, and unsure what it is about my footwear that's wrong. I've donned my showshoes and tramped across the ravine to the little hut, but that is firmly padlocked.

Most commands are of two words, but you can enter brief sentences, and as well as saving the game to tape you can transfer it to Microdrive. It loads quite quickly from tape, and the loading screen includes a lightning flash effect. RamJam is evidently concerned about software copying, as when the game is loaded you're asked, strictly for their files, if you're using a pirated copy. I'm not sure how many people will be taken in by this and type "Yes", but if you do, you get what you get for swearing at the program. My only advice: don't pirate it, buy it.