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The home micro and the hoard game have had quite an interesting relationship. Far from giving Monopoly the boot, computers have achieved a sort of symbiotic relationship with the dice throwing fraternity.

Most successful board games spawn micro versions, but there haven't been many that miss the card and counter stage altogether to hit the small screen first. Spaced Out is undeniably a computer board game.

Like all good (and not a few bad) games, the rules are simple. There's a grid of points on which players move. The idea is to move your player (a cosmic cowboy in ten-parsec hat and stellar leather boots) from the bottom left of the grid to the top right.

Movement is either along or up - no diagonals allowed - and the distance moved is cast by a couple of numbers which try ever so hard to be a pair of dice. No spots, but they do randomly set up two numbers between zero and six. Throwing a double means you move twice.

There has to be competition, in this case the Nasties. These swarm over the playing area and try to get in your way. You can't jump over them, but you can move on top of one to space it out. Hence the name of the game. You, too, can experience the unique delights of getting well wasted if the Nasties manage to prevent you making any legal move with the numbers the dice give you.

On the numerical side of things, there are several factors that determine the success of the boardtrotter. Each move has to be completed within a minute, and time penalties start to clock up if you haven't finished within 15 seconds. Spacing out an opponent (which removes it from the board) also accrues 100 penalty points.

Spacing out yourself provides another 400, and another nasty makes an entrance to cheer you up. More penalties accumulate if you use more than the allotted 20 moves.

You start off with a handicap rating, and this sets the maximum number of penalty points you can take. To begin with this is usually in the high thousands, but should you succeed in your mission then the number of penalty points you scored becomes your handicap for the rematch. So you have to get as many penalties as possible in the first game (without going over the top and losing) to give yourself a better chance in the more difficult subsequent game.

Joystick or keyboard is required for the game, most people having at least one of the two. At the start, you can choose the size of board from about a twelfth to over three quarters of the screen, and also the number of nasties. Dice are rolled by pressing the fire button, and you pick your moves by moving a pointer over a die and a direction arrow.

There are a few unfathomables. Can you comprehend the rules governing the nasties' ramblings? Why is the icon that means you're spaced out marked with a T? Is the game more interesting than playing Ludo with Aunty Mabel on Boxing Day? Only you, Firebird and the two quid in your pocket can provide the answer.

Like wow, man, Spaced Out is a heavy handle to lay on a computer game. Like mind your head. But the action has little to do with the traditional meaning of the phrase. The game is a respectable cheapie, demonstrating the traditional board game attributes of alternating boredom and fascination. There's also a measure of frustration as the Nasties skip seemingly at random across the board, sometimes blocking you in and sometimes leaving you strictly alone. A game to be bought and played once a month.

Mix space with a rootin' tootin' cowsprite and a host of unfriendly helicopters and pact-thingies. The last thing you'd expect is a board game. The instructions are next to useless and the play is diabolically slow but it's fine when you get into it. Still I predict a flop. Spaced Out is not exciting and during the summer most people would rather be outside.

Like the man said this is a board game on a computer. Now, I usually dislike such things.

Half the fun is moving toy racing cars out of jail free. Spaced Out is different. Its got a computer moderated opponent for a start and is fun to play. The game reminds me of Think! - also available on Firebird Silver, that requires greater cerebral effort and the sprites aren't as cute. Good game.