Introduction

A game on cassette or 5.25" disc for the BBC Microcomputer Model B

You are put in charge of a JCB 3CX Excavator Loader. There are four movement keys (up, down, left and right) plus digging and filling keys to enable you to dig traps for the Meanies, who chase you. Fill the holes quickly to kill the Meanies, or pick them up in your shovel and dump them in the sea! The action takes place on an island, with the screen acting as a 'window', which scrolls to accommodate the movement of the JCB.

Produced in conjunction with J. C. Bamford Ltd, this game is a must for the game connoisseur.

Acornsoft JCB Digger is fully compatible with either keyboard or joysticks and includes a table of high scores.

Game Objective

You are in charge of a JCB 3CX Excavator Loader. Your mission is to put all of the Meanies to sleep - you have to try and get them before they get you! A Meanie will fall asleep if it goes underground or underwater. Using your JCB, you must try and dig holes for the Meanies to fall into. Beware, as the Meanies will climb out after a while, so you have to fill them in quickly. All digging is done with the backhoe (the 'scooper' at the back) and all filling is done with the shovel at the front.

In order to dig a hole, simply move the JCB to the desired position and press the SHIFT key three times (Meanies will only fall into fully dug holes). The hole will appear under the backhoe. To fill in a hole, hold the Space Bar down and drive over the hole. This will send any trapped Meanies to sleep.

The only way to get the Meanie to go underwater is to shovel it into the sea. Note that only salt walter will send the Meanie to sleep, so putting it in a lake will not harm it.

The JCB can only reach full speed when it is on flat ground (green areas), and when it has the shovel raised and the backhoe folded.

The Meanies can capture your JCB by getting near the cab. They will then drive it off to the right-hand side of the screen. You start off with two spare JCBs, and you may get an extra one after a score of 1500.

You can also score by shovelling the landscape away with the shovel. In order to do this, position the JCB's shovel at the edge of the landscape to be destroyed, put the shovel down, and drive into the landscape.

After you have put eight Meanies to sleep, you will be given a new set. In this set the Meanies change colour, and suddenly learn new skills like being able to cross different types of landscape:

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, : - Up, / - Down, SHIFT - Dig, SPACE - Fill

Alternatively, use the joystick to mmove. To dig a hole, use the fire button with a centred joystick. To fill a hole, press the fire button and move.

ESCAPE - Quit, Q/S - Sound Off/On, COPY/DELETE - Pause/Resume

Scoring

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CHAIN "JCB" (RETURN)