Addison Wesley's games are something of a surprise. Poor seems rather strong, but look at the price. For £15, you would expect to get quite a product.

The most exciting part about Dreadnought, for example, is the packaging. The games themselves aren't as good as many magazine listings. You'd probably feel cheated if you'd paid the more usual £7. Something has gone very wrong somewhere, rather like it did with Century's new Spectrum games (PCN, Issue 88).

Ever fancied being a barman? Well, Tapper draws on this theme in an original and entertaining game. It's a US import from Bally Midway in which you play the part of the bartender and have to keep clients' glasses filled. Being topers they known the stuff back at a fair pace and sling their glasses about, which you also have to catch before they break.

Do you have nightmares about ink-worms? Arthur, the hero of Quinx has. You help him stamp out the ink works which crawl across his exam paper. If they get to the other side they turn into paper-eating monsters which devour Arthur's A4 sheet.

There are bonus points for eating food, which appears at random. But then you'll have to take Arthur to the toothpaste or not even an apple will keep the death-dealing dentist at bay.

For younger players there's Paddington's Garden Game. It's a gentle introduction to arcade games as you guide Paddington around his garden. He has to catch butterflies (but don't worry, they're all realeased at the end), and avoid the snails and hedgehogs.

It's colourful, fairly tuneful and quite relaxed. Not much learning involved, but then again, why should software aimed at a young audience always be educational?

Mirrorsoft is really going to town with its younger user software. Continuing the Caesar theme. Caesar's Travels comes with a 60 page instruction booklet which includes some half-dozen pictures to colour in.

The booklet has a story, but with 18 different endings and the package includes a useful keyboard overlay with commands like walk, go back, jump and hide.

One normally associates Longman with educational software, but according to the latest press release, the company's just released the arcade/strategy game, Agent USA. You must build up your defences while a warding off the Fuzz (this is in the States, remember?). The aim is to defuse the Fuzzbomb which turns innocent citizens into Fuzzbodies.

We're told it uses "top-flight graphics, smooth animation, and an instantly accessible but ultimately complex strategy framework"... we'll let you know what it's really like soon.

The trend of the game of the film continues with Alien. It's a sort of strategy/adventure in which you direct the actions and movements of the crew of the Nostromo.

The story is told in a booklet, just up to the point where the eight passenger makes its stomach-turning debut. Although you're playing Commander, the characters won't necessarily obey your orders.

Their characteristics and experiences will influence their actions - so it's up to you to get familiar with them so you can predict what they're likely to do.

The film was good, but complex as the game may be I feel Mindgames has missed out on the chance to produce a really good product.

Bad news for those still struggling with Lords Of Midnight. Beyond has just released the follow-up, Doomdark's Revenge. It is similar to Lords, but the plot, character independence, size, etc have been improved. We're be carrying a review before Christmas.

Mutant Monty wants one thing from life - to get rich and famous. There are 40 rooms in which Monty can pick up piles of gold. Naturally, there are various beasts, aliens and so on, intent on stopping him. And as for getting famous - just help Monty rescue the damsel.

For UXB freaks there's Bomb Scare. Essentially a platform game, you have to get to Cyril Saboteur's bomb before it explodes. There are some neat graphics touches, but it's one of those very fast, infuriatingly difficult games that are almost impossible to play, and which therefore is unlikely to do well.

Sinclair's association with ASK and MacMillan is producing a wide range of educational software.

If you want to get into meteorology, check out Weather Master. It's one of the latest in Sinclair's excellent Science Horizons series, some of which are as valid for adults as for students. Written by Fiveways, Weather Master will help you learn about weather systems and how they produce our climate.

Wordsetter and its companion games are aimed squarely at the under-eights. Wordsetter gives you two games which are intended to introduce the concept of sets. Estimator Racer has you in the driving seat of a racing car which must be steered into the lane which corressponds most closely with the answer to a sum. If you're in the wrong lane at the half kilometre makr, you'll be unable to avoid a large rock, not known to be beneficial to Formula One vehicles.

Do you ever get frustrated by your slow typing speed when you're hacking in PCN listings? Touch-Type might help, although it's intended as an aid to 'real' typing, with a proper keyboard (No, I don't include the Spectrum Plus in that category!).

There are four levels of help and 15 lessons. There's a performance report at the end of a session, and the program probably beats evening classes on price at least.

See-Kaa of Assia was supposed to cost £7.50 (PCN, issue 84) but now Mastertronic has set up Master Adventurer, the price has tumbled to £2.99 and we're promised many more cheap adventures next year.