Producer: Longman Software
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price:
Author: Trevor Green

At first sight Snaffle begs to be compared with 'Scrabble' so I shall. Both games use a store of letters from which the players draw a selection, the object being to form a word with the letters so drawn. With 'Scrabble' each player starts with seven letters and refills after a round of play but in the case of Snaffle the players can pick from a common pool of letters that is added to one letter at a time. When any one of the players spots a potential word he keys in his 'pick key' to tell the program that he is ready to make a word.

The main feature that Snaffle offers is the ability to take another player's word - I know that because that's what snaffle means (though not necessarily a word of course). That's not really so different from 'Scrabble' because you could always add your letters to another player's word and get his score as well but with Snaffle life is a little easier in so far that a player who uses another player's word really uses the letters of that word mixed up in any order. For example if a one player has a word such as 'cat' and the letters 'T,O,N,E,M,P,L,' are in the pool, a lesser player may decide to draw the letters from the pool to make the word 'temple' but a really mean player would immediately notice that the letters in the pool would combine with his opponent's 'cat' to make.... 'contemplate' . One word of warning to the meanies among you, the rules state that a player can only snaffle another player' s word if the new word has a different base, in other words it's not done simply to append a chaps word with -s or -ed. The tasks the computer has to perform are to shuffle the letters to be presented and display them. It will judge an entered word in a much as it checks to see if the letters used are in either the pool or in another player's corner. When it has found the letters it will transfer them from the pool (and/or another players corner) and add them to the appropriate comer.

The machine then gives the other players an opportunity to allow or reject a word. On the scoring side marks are awarded according to the length of the word formed, bonus points are given if a word is made by snaffling another player's word. If one person enters a word that the other players decide is not kosher then the offender will lose points and this is also the case should an over-eager player enter his 'pick'code and then realise that he can't make a word after alt.

COMMENTS

Control keys: as allocated to players
Keyboard play: responsive
Use of colour: minimal
Graphics: adequate
Sound: not lavish but useful
Skill levels: 1

Certainly Snaffle can be considered as a good wholesome family game, there still aren't thousands of those about for computers. 'Scrabble' has certainly marked out a patch as one of the most popular board games so I can see no reason why Snaffle shouldn't find equivalent appeal. The games are very similar except that the facility to use another player's words, mean as it is, does add that little something. My main concern is that I found the game very easy to cheat at, especially if you are playing against non-computer experts, like the dog. I kept rejecting Poddy's words and he finished with a score of -10, it all happened so fast he hadn't a clue where his words where going. Seriously though, the problem with using the system adopted of allowing the players to pull letters from a common pool, is that a player is forced to make short three letter words before the next player does. Good solid words can only be formed by snaffling other players' words, with my family that would end in tears. I realise that a spelling checker would be out of the question on the Spectrum but it was a pity that the computer couldn't be left to judge the legitimacy of the words. The input system and the graphics worked well but there's nothing flash or clever about either.

Dave: Here's a word game that bears a remarkable resemblance to another word game called Sc..... well, let's just say that any resemblance between the two is probably purely intentional. This one's described as a fast and furious game for all the family. Mmmm. Fast, maybe but furious, almost certainly - one of those games that's likely to have everyone from 8 to 80 arguing like good'uns.

Certainly, the booklet that comes with it isn't bad so what about the game? Well, on loading you're first asked how many players there are. At the last count there was only one of me, so I shall invent a chum called Bob. In go our initials and away we go. I press a key until a letter appears. Bob presses one, another letter. And so it goes on until one of us spots a word. We then use the Pick key to regroup the letters and the word's made. I'm then asked if I agree that Bob's word 'Blitnung' is valid. If Bob's happy with it, so am I!

The booklet suggests that we keep a dictionary handy. I agree. Word games on the computer will always seem a bit pointless until they have a dictionary built in. This game should aid the decline of literacy no end. 2/5 MISS

Roger: There's a word to describe this game but the Ed would only cross it. Suffice it to say I wasn't impressed. 1/5 MISS

Ross: There's no reason to put this on computer at all. In fact, there's no reason for the game at all. Bored then snored! 1/5 MISS

PAT ON BACK FOR LONGMAN

Theodora Wood assesses a new range of software.

POSTMAN PAT'S TRAIL GAME
Memory: 48K
Price: £5.95

SUPERTED
Memory: 48K
Price: £5.95

WORD WIZARD
Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95

RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX
Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95

SNAFFLE
Memory: 48K
Price: £9.95

FRENCH
Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95

BIOLOGY
Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95

RUN, RABBIT RUN
Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95

FRIEND OR FOE
Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95

With the plethora of learning programs available for use in the home, it is difficult for the prospective buyer to sort the wheat from the chaff. Comparisons are odious, but can be very useful as a guide. The recently released range of programs from Longman can serve as a yardstick to measure the value of some offerings in this field. The Longman Group having published educational texts for many years brings a wealth of experience to software publishing.

Software aimed at the under-11 age group, has to provide a certain degree of entertainment. Programs with a major undisguised element of sustained skill learning are unlikely to be popular with children at home.

The Mr T range of programs from Ebury software, under the Good Housekeeping label, was a minor breakthrough in early learning. The programs covered numbers, shapes, measuring and the alphabet, all superbly presented in the form of games designed to appeal to the pre-school age group. They provided good graphics and an educational strategy which would not be out of place in a primary school. New titles include Mr T in the Mystery Maze, which shows a move towards problem-solving skills for seven plus.

The Longman range for that age group includes Hot Dog Spotter, ABC... Lift Off and Countabout. Those are standard programs which feature arcade routines as part of the action and have proved just as popular as the Mr T programs. The new Longman program, Postman Pat's Trail Game, based on the books and TV series, encourages thinking and memory skills as well as the use of the cursor keys. Postman Pat - such an inoffensive character - has to follow the trails left by various characters in the story clutching a letter or parcel. He then has to find his way back to the Post Office without help from the tracks. Greendale is pictured on the screen complete with sheep, hedges and bridges, as well as cows which block the road from time to time at the more difficult levels. For a four-year-old Postman Pat Rules!

SuperTed is a similar program, except that this time our hero has to try and catch the villains and put them in jail before a bomb goes off. Quite delightful. A format of nine mazes is the playing area and the positions of the villains are shown on a small grid at the top of the screen. Speed and accuracy of movement round the playing areas require care, though the speed is rather too slow. It would have been useful to have a selection of playing speeds. Both programs benefit from joystick control.

Longman's middle range of programs for the 7-11 age group has nothing in particular to recommend it. That is not to say that the programs are not good, but merely that they are on a par with others. Robot Runner, a tables tester, Wild Words, a spelling tester, and Sum Scruncher all bear the Longman stamp of drill mixed with arcade routines. Numerous other companies provide similar programs, notably Mirrorsoft's Quickthinking, Sinclair's Castle Spellerous, and Stell Software's Maths Invaders.

Other new titles for the Spectrum from Longman feature programs aimed at the family, capable of supporting up to four players. In Riddle of the Sphinx you have to build up words on one face of a pyramid, always starting with the letter that finished the previous word. Word Wizard asks the players to make anagrams out of a specified number of letters. To play Snaffle you have to use letters as they appear on the board and build a word out of them, as well as snaffle an opponent's word to make a new combination. If a word is not in the dictionary the players can verify that such a word exists. Snaffle is the most interesting game but also the most expensive of the three.

A new company, Hill McGibbon, is set to be a rival to Longman for this age group. Formed by three ex-Heinemann people it brings long-standing experience in publishing to the field of software development. Hill McGibbon policy is to produce games of high entertainment quality in themselves, but which have an underlying educational content. New games for the Spectrum include Run, Rabbit Run, a board game with strategic possibilities and Friend or Foe which is similar, both priced reasonably. The catchphrase, 'games to stretch the mind' could set the tone for software in the future.

Longman, however, has in First Moves a program to teach chess for eight-year-olds upwards. Chess is surely the greatest strategy game of all time, and any program which smooths the way to understanding of the complex nature of the game must be useful. The program concentrates on the chess pieces and their moves, and comes complete with a full colour poster for handy reference.

A joystick is a great aid to moving the pieces, otherwise rather a complex manipulation of the numbers one to eight is required.

The main disadvantage is that the screen board is tiring on the eyes. Longman does not help by using green and magenta for the board colours, and even with the colour turned down there is a certain amount of drift.

The program takes the user through all the moves of the pieces before starting any games, although you can go straight to the games if you wish. The games start with few pieces: level one is the King and his castle, going on to an almost complete game in level six using one of all the pieces with accompanying pawns. A Help key is available to show where each piece can be moved when it is the player's turn.

Self study is becoming a topic of serious consideration for schools, providing the chance for a student to learn at his/her own pace, and Longman is uniquely placed for this. The revision package French O level and CSE has to be considered the best of its type.

Chalksoft's Eiffel Tower is a French vocabulary tester providing 20 word lists in two programs for £9.25. The Longman program has 29 word lists in two programs which have comprehensive testing facilities. Sulis Software has produced a package to revise French irregular verbs, at £9.95. The Longman package contains a program which enables the student to revise the same.

As well as those two facilities the Longman program has a composition tester, where the user has to remember a short piece of French prose and then ENTER it, and a map-based program highlighting the regions and towns of France. The price is £7.95, which must be considered a good buy under the circumstances.

The revision program Biology shows a similar range of activities. There are five programs. Text carries nearly 400 references over the subject, and the student is advised to make a note of those on his/her syllabus, and pay particular attention to those marked with a star. Skeleton is a word game which asks questions and builds up a picture of a skeleton with labels.

Heredity covers just that, but in an interactive way. It tests knowledge of the principles of heredity by asking the student to forecast the outcome of a particular mating in the form of a percentage. You are also able to set up breeding combinations and see what happens. Kingdom is an exploration of the main types of creatures and plants. A specimen or example can be identified by its characteristics.

It is also possible to compare the different types of life form. This is an excellent way of coming to grips with all those long Latin names as well as gaining an overview of the main classifications used.

Food covers the major components of nutrition and tests knowledge of the same.

Both the French and Biology packages appeal within their limitations, and represent reasonable value for money; they also help with revision strategy and organisation of time by pinpointing areas of the subjects concerned with precision.

Overall, the Longman range for the Spectrum seems particularly strong in the rule and drill and revision departments but lacks a variety of strategy, problem-solving games and adventures. First Moves excepted. That is probably a result of the company's involvement in educational texts which leads it to concentrate on those formats rather than enter what might perhaps be considered a more creative use of the Spectrum.