Producer: Hill MacGibbon
Retail Price: £6.95
Age Range: 4 to 104 years (well, that's what it says!)

Five in a Row is played on a board with 196 positions set out on a 14x14 square, and can be played by up to three players. Each player, in turn, places a counter on the board and the first to achieve 5 in a row (horizontally, vertically or diagonally) is the winner. It sounds easy, but the game represents quite a challenge, and players can also select a 4-in-a-row or a 6-in-a-row option.

There are several ways of placing the counters on the board: the arrow keys can be used to control the cursor or a pair of cursors can be moved along vertical and horizontal axes with the arrow keys; if that's too easy, coordinates may be entered using the arrow keys to increase or decrease the value of the coordinates displayed on the screen. The program on Side A of the cassette is a version in which an unlimited number of counters are available in the game, while the game on Side B imposes a handicap - the number of counters available is limited.

This is a very enjoyable strategy game, which has the flexibility to provide hours of fun.

COMMENTS

Control keys: arrow keys used for all the options of placing the counters on the board.
Keyboard play: very responsive.
Use of colour: bright and clear
Graphics: simple, but well organised display of the board.