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Anyone who has ever spent hours stacked in a holding pattern over a busy airport should play Heathrow, just to see what air traffic controllers have to put up with. But the satisfaction you'll get from mastering this game is worth every effort.

Every possible variable has been programmed into this game and it's up to you to acquaint yourself with keeping an airport disaster-free.

The goal is to land eight aircraft, or as many as possible, in 25 minutes. This sounds simple enough but you must go through a complex series of steps before you can hope to land one.

What's almost as important is keeping track of the detailed information on the screen about each plane's altitude, speed, direction, and classification. Reading the instructions alone takes about half an hour.

And besides coping with aircraft traffic, you've got to be ready for any emergency.

The designers of Heathrow have provided players with a practice program that allows you to familiarise yourself with the blips and bleeps that appear on screen. These make no sense to the novice at first, but by following the very well written introduction, the symbols are soon understood.

Press the V key to stop the action and examine a segment of the game. Pressing W resumes play, and it you want a quick run-through of a typical play sequence you press X and the planes suddenly seem to have received a massive dose of amphetamines.

The first time I tried Heathrow my aircraft, plane F, left the airport's airspace altogether. While the legend 'Plane F has left airspace' flashed insistently I frantically searched the instruction manual to find a way to bring my plane back.

After much trial and tribulation an air disaster was averted.

No matter how carefully you read the instructions there's always a surprise lurking around the corner.

After my introductory session I scored zero in planelanding but 97 per cent in safety. In other words, poor old Plane 'F' is still up there somewhere.

In keeping with the rest of the game, scoring and overall achievement tabulations are well laid out.

Heathrow is not a game to pick up idly and cast aside. It is perhaps annoyingly complex at first but will attract players because its subtleties take a long time to explore. Just don't play if you're planning on flying in the near future.