Significantly Trivial

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I knew us harmless Beeb owners couldn't escape for long. What have we done to deserve it? Yes, Trivial Pursuit is here! Forget cards and fiddly pieces of plastic: this is a natural computer game with benefits the board version can't give.

Domark won the contract from Horn Abbot (manufacturers of the wildly successful board game) for producing the computer version and, on the whole, have done very well. The game comes on two tapes, one with the program and the other, about a C90, contains the 3000 Genus starter questions.

Once the game is loaded and the number of players selected, the board is displayed, and here is my first quibble. The board is very cluttered and, as it is colour-coded, very difficult to play on a black and white TV (although the squares are highlighted when you move).

Star of the game is a cute little character called 'TP' who keeps track of the score and asks the questions, and also throws the dart which takes the place of rolling the dice. When it is your turn, flashing squares indicate where you can move. After selecting one, using a seemingly very complicated selection of cursor keys, you are asked a general knowledge question on a subject depending on the colour of the square. This could be Art, Sport, Entertainment, History, Geography or Science, and Domark promise new question tapes with different categories soon for those with other interests or an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

Once you have selected a subject, you are taken to TP's study where he first loads a question from tape (This is surprisingly quick!) and then asks you it, sounding very much like a Clanger (Remember them?)

Sometimes you may get asked a musical question, in which case TP goes over to his Hi-Fi system and turns a tape on. Graphical questions are also asked and here a screen is rolled down and a map or diagram displayed. While you think of the answer, TP wanders up and down waiting for you.

When you think you have it, you simply say it out loud and press Space, but of course there isn't some fancy speech recognition here, the other players simply have to decide if your answer is close enough to the one shown. Correct answers give you another turn and you win the game once you have won a 'wedge' from each category and returned to the centre.

Master owners don't bother forking out the fifteen quid, as the game doesn't work on the Master 128. Come on Domark, what's all that extra memory for - function key definitions?

Overall, the game is well presented (apart from the board layout) with some very nice little touches when you are in the study (be sure to watch the clock and the cat!) and makes a welcome intellectual change from Galaforce.

David Lawrence