Entertaining, educational and original! Yes, it's all of these, though it
will leave the arcade freaks yawning with its sedate manipulation of text on a
Mode 7 screen. The program (supplied with a properly printed booklet) has a
database of 700 words, of which you are dealt a random twelve on each play,
shown at the top of the screen. At the bottom is a standard set of function
words (e.g. to, from, this), suffixes, etc. You have to compose a sentence in
the middle of the screen by choosing combinations of words from top to
bottom. There are also various tricks to permit joining of words, etc. You
score mostly by using things from the lower half, although there is a bonus
for using up all twelve words at the top.
When you have composed your sentence, the program then asks the other players
to judge whether it is grammatical and meaningful (in the solo option you must
be your own judge!). One of the most entertaining aspects of the game is the
requirement to construct a scenario to convince your fellow players that your
sentence could mean something. Consider one of my own creations: "The living
computer ought to move above the road, with a notable foot in the door, mostly
in the afternoon and evening." Well, there was this robot salesman, you see,
with a revolutionary foot design that allowed it to actually float above the
pavement...
There are some small flaws in the program. For example, there is a minor bug
when a sentence is rejected, the randomisation procedure at the start of play
is unnecessarily slow and the (optional) time limits are too short. However,
it is written in Basic with no tricks, and you can get into the program and
modify it if you wish. Disc owners will also be pleased to note that transfer
is straightforward and the program will run happily with PAGE at &1900.
1st December 1984
