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This is definitely not a 'zap the aliens' game. It is, rather, a 'stop anyone zapping the ospreys' program, and is as much an education as a game.

The package contains a cassette and a 32-page booklet. Also enclosed in an application form to join the RSPB, who have joined with Bourne in marketing the program.

The booklet is excellent. Printed in full colour, it includes many fine photos of ospreys in the wild, well-written text including current statistics on breeding pairs and a history of the near extinction and subsequent recovery of the birds. It also includes several screenshots from the game and full instructions on playing it.

Osprey is really a variant of Hamerburai, in which the player has to balance various factors in order to achieve a desired result.

In Osprey your three problems are egg stealers who climb to the nest at night, tourists parking to watch the birds who can frighten them by sounding their horns, and hunters who drive too close to the nest.

You have a limited number of wardens you may assign to prevent each of these attacks. You start the game in any year prior to 1981, and the further back you go the fewer wardens you have and the harder the game becomes.

Having set your wardens to their task, a nicely drawn panorama fills the screen and an animated sequence shows how you fared. You then also receive a written report and can set about redistributing your wardens for the next season.

If you reach 1981 with any ospreys left, you've won!

The game itself is not exciting, but I am now more aware of the plight of ospreys.