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You know it's not only ghosts that get up in the middle of the night to go to work, a lot of factory workers don't even leave for work until ten at night. Our hero Fred Fixit (you can choose to be Fiona Fixit, his seventh cousin three times removed on his mother's side, but it makes no difference to the gameplay) is one of these night workers, looking after a doll-making machine called the Beast. (Ever see the cartoon series Bertha? The Beast is like a bigger version of her.)

The Beast is an old and doddery machine from which bits fall off at very regular intervals. Your job is to not only get the machine going in the first place but, more importantly, to keep it going all through your shift. The first level simply involves finding the plug and kicking it in, tightening a nut and boosting the electricity supply by pedalling the bike. Most of the controls are automatic... at first.

On the later levels, more control panels are revealed so there are more knobs, screws and switches to contend with. As if that wasn't enough, on level three the lemming makes its first appearance. This annoying little creature has only one task in life: to hinder you.

The one problem (it's the only criticism I have, but it's a big one, with Night Shift) is that it's a helluva difficult game to get into in the first place: it'll take you at least a couple of days to get it sussed. The aim of the game is thoroughly explained in the manual, but it doesn't give you any clues as to how to actually achieve those goals. Nor does it explain how to control Fred or Fiona - it just tells you that you can kick things, and doesn't actually explain what you should do with the joystick to make your character kick.

The bad documentation really blights what could have been a great game. As it is, you need to have the patience of a particularly patient saintly priest and the determination of a gladiator to beat this thing. Once you have worked out where the game's heading, it does get really interesting and becomes great fun to play. But that first hurdle will be too much for a lot of games players.

The first thing you have to do is check that the Beast's plugged in so to save time, use a balloon to take you all the way to the top instead of platforming it all the way.

1. You'll need a stubborn streak if you're going to get anything out of the game...
2. But once you get into it, you won't be able to stop playing.
3. Graphically it can be a bit confusing if you don't know what you're looking for.