War? Huh! What is it good for? "Absolutely nothing!" sang Edwin Starr back in the 70s. How wrong he was because War is right smart. I'm not talking about the real thing, of course, which is all blood 'n guts, brutal 'n inhuman. No, I'm talking about this great Shareware game. In essence War is a rather simple board game for two players (ether human vs computer or human vs human), each assuming the role of Emperor of a massive space empire. Each player's aim is to expand his Empire and rub the other's out.

Play takes place on a small grid. Each player takes it in turn to move his spacefleets from square to square. Each square occupied is claimed as part of the player's Empire. Should the player move his fleet onto a square occupied by one of the enemy's fleets then there's a arcade-ish shoot-'em-up interude to decide the outcome of the battle. Although strategically limited, there's enough decision-making going on to keep the brain ticking over and the battles are a great laff. War is lots of fun for one and even more fun for two. Pick of the month without a doubt.