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In the distant future, there exists a confederation of ten planets that are controlled by the overlord Vadd. You are the Wanderer, a space mercenary, and you have been hired by the confederation to destroy Vadd. To do so, you need a disruptor, but disruptors don't come cheap.

The idea is to fly between planets, trading to collect money to save up for the disrupter of your dreams. Sounds pretty run of the mill until you find out what you trade - your precious cargo is playing cards! To make money, you must make the planets' 'hands' better. An economy controlled by playing cards? Do me a favour!

Needless to say, Vadd's cronies are out to stop you and will do their best to deplete your shields and thus destroy you. When you start you have six shields and an ability rating of zero. The ability rating is increased by shooting enemies, and it governs how far you can move across the galactic map and how many of the three black holes you can enter. If your shield reaches zero, but you still have some energy, you will be sent into limbo where you have a chance to win the right to continue the mission.

Wanderer uses vector graphics which should mean that they move smoothly and quickly, right? Wrong! They move jerkily and slowly and everything is presented in glorious monochrome.

The sound is just as bad as the graphics, a few spot effects and a merry little tune (to celebrate your demise) are all you get.

Gameplay is slow and repetitious. Basically, you get some cards, fly somewhere else, trade them in and then go through it all again. It looks like a lot of parts of other games badly glued together. The black hole level looks very much like the tunnel game from Master Of The Lamps. I can't see anyone getting much enjoyment out of Wanderer for more than a couple of hours, so steer well clear of this one.