Producer: Gremlin Graphics
Retail Price: £4.9
Language: BASIC
Author: Colin C Chadburn

Tinderbox is a Softaid supportive product produced by Gremlin Graphics. All profits will be donated to the Ethiopian Relief Fund. The game comes complete with a whole storybook on tape and has options to select the colours on screen and whether or not to display the pictures.

Tinderbox is a fairytale adventure very much aimed at a young audience and is the story of a common foot-soldier and his rise to become the husband of the beautiful princess, Rowella. On one side of the tape the whole tale is laid out before you so making the game itself that much easier and tells of how Tom, the wounded foot-soldier, leaves hospital with only a sword and five golden guineas to his name. Toying with the idea of turning in his sword at the pawnbrokers he begins to wish he'd listened to his mum and become a Civil Servant.

A fortune teller is much disturbed by his presence as legend has it that the princess, the king's pride and joy, will end up the bride of a common footsoldier. Tom, naturally enough, thinks this not such a bad turn of events and decides to do his utmost to make the prophecy, and his dearest wish, come true. Crucial to his success is the witch's tinderbox which magically controls the ferocious hounds. Winning first prize in the local archery competition impresses the Captain of the Royal Guard and wins him a magnificent lute with which he serenades the princess, winning her undying admiration. But how to exile the king to an island, and how to escape the all are problems which lie between him and the glorious wedding. All obstacles are overcome in the end and Tom becomes the Prince Regent, helping the princess in matters of state and ending the king's despotic rule over the land.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: very easy, aimed at the younger adventurer
Graphics: very small graphics on some locations
Input facility: verb/noun
Response: reasonable

Publisher: Gremlin
Price: £4.99
Memory: 48K

Gremlin Graphics is not a company noted for its adventures.

Tinderbox is a fairy tale, in which you play the part of Tom, a common foot-soldier, who has to defeat the wicked witch and evil king to gain the hand of the fair Rowella.

As an adventure, it's a disgrace. It is written entirely in Basic, and contains large numbers of boring locations where little or nothing happens.

The computer does not understand even a simple, standard adventure command such as Look. As Tom happily wades through a lake without so much as getting his feet wet, he may well ponder his bad luck in not signing up as a mercenary with Pete Austin or Brian Howarth.

The B side of the cassette contains a long fairy story printed up screen by screen. It is the story of Tom, the common foot, and you've guessed the rest already.

All profits go to the Soft-Aid appeal for Ethiopia. It's very fine of Gremlin to do that, but they might have chosen a halfway decent program to flog for charity. If you care about Ethiopia - and you should - then send a fiver to Bob Geldof. There's no point bothering with Tinderbox - it lights nobody's fire.