It is the year 1884, somewhere in the Wild West. You are on the track of a notorious gang of robbers who have gone to ground near an abandoned mining town, deep in Indian territory. They have hidden their loot - the proceeds of a bank hold-up - somewhere in the town. Your objective is to gain promotion to the rank of Marshal. To do this you must outwit and outgun the robbers, collect as much loot as possible and piece together clues on how to escape!

You explore the town and surrounding area by typing the appropriate instructions followed by RETURN. For example, GO EAST, EAST and E will all send you in that direction. The computer understands between 200 and 300 words and about as many phrases and common sense and experimention will help you find out which words and phrases you can use. We have deliberately not supplied you with a complete 'dictionary' of permissible words since one of the challenges of an adventure is to discover them for yourself. To help you get started, however, SHOOT, TAKE and DRINK all have the required result.

If the computer is given a word it doesn't know, it will tell you - e.g. 'I don't understand what you want to do with the gun', and you can try another word.

In the world you are exploring, things happen continuously outside your control; rattlesnakes slither past, Indians charge and robbers appear and shoot at you!

Events also happen in real time. If your trigger-finger hesitates when a robber appears, you may not live to regret it! You begin your quest at dawn and progress through the day; high noon is followed by evening and then night.

All moves made outside the town are of random length. If you put something down, go away and then immediately retrace your steps, you may not find the object ever again.

You start the game with only your six gun. As you progress, you will find various items in different parts of the town which will help you survive and further your quest. Not all the objects are visible - in some cases, you'll need considerable ingenuity to find them. In each game, some items are placed in random locations while others are fixed.

The robbers are hardened gamblers. If you meet a robber while carrying a pack of cards, you may be challenged to a game of Pontoon. You probably already know the rules of the game, but here is a brief resume.

The robber shuffles the pack of cards at the start of each game. He deals himself two cards, one face up and one face down, and then deals you two cards face down.

The value of the cards:

1. An ace is worth 1 or 11.
2. The court cards (King, Queen, Jack) are worth ten points each.
3. All other cards are worth their face value.

The object of the game is to hold two or more cards that are worth twenty-one or as near twenty-one as possible without going above this value. For example, a six, a four and an ace count as twenty-one, but a seven, a four and an ace count as twelve - to value the ace as 11 would put you above twenty-one.

A 'natural' twenty-one is an ace and a card worth 10 - a court card or a ten - which are dealt as the first two cards. This wins outright unless the robber also draws a natural, in which case you draw.

After the initial deal is made, the robber asks you whether you want another card. You can refuse (Stick) or accept (Twist) - in Blackjack, you would say 'Hit me'. You are then dealt another card face up. You continue until

1. you decide to stick
2. the value of your cards is over 21 - in which case you lose

It's now the robber's turn. He turns his face down card and proceeds to take additional cards in the same way as you did. In some gambling dens, the dealer has to stop at 16 or less but these robbers are no sticklers for the rules - they'll twist even if the value of their cards is more than 17!

If you want to leave the game, you can use the SAVE command to record your game on tape. Insert a blank tape into your cassette holder, type SAVE on the computer and then press PLAY and RECORD on the recorder. As soon as you are sure that the tape has run past the clear plastic leader at the beginning, press RETURN. To return to West, rewind the ape and type RESTORE. This gets you back to the point where you broke off.

You score points by

1. collecting objects - some are worthless
2. reaching inaccessible locations

You lose points by getting killed.

At any point in the game, you can find out your rating by typing SCORE. Your score will also appear at the end of the game. When you finally solve the adventure and escape from the town, you will be awarded a 'rank' - the best possible rank is Marshal.

You have thirty lives. To restart the game, you must reload the tape. If you want a quick restart, SAVE the game as soon as you've loaded it.