Cheap and cheerful

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It's good to see continued support for Acorn Computers from budget-priced software houses. Blue Ribbon has another collection of games of luck, skill and strategy on offer.

Bar Billiards is a re-release of an old favourite of mine. The game is a simulation of the classic pub game for one or two players and is ideally suited to the computer, being simple in rules and without too much fast movement.

The basic aim is to pot balls down holes in a table, without knocking over the pegs which stand precariously in front of the higher scoring holes. You place a ball somewhere in a small D-shape at one end of the table and cue it against other balls. It doesn't matter which ones go down - all score points, with the red ball always worth double.

Your break ends if you fail to pot a ball, but knocking over a white peg loses any score made in that break. Knocking down the black peg loses your entire score - the ultimate disaster. To avoid this, you can vary the strength of your shot and can also use top spin, back spin or a normal shot.

The only problem I encountered was a tendency for the ball to follow a curved path. Perhaps Blue Ribbon should level its table. That apart, this is a worthy simulation and well worth adding to your collection.

Rog Frost