Have a ball with Roland Waddilove's enjoyable little game

BOUNCY is a simple but enjoyable game in which you have to trap a ball which is moving around the screen, bouncing off any objects in its way.

Your only control is the Space bar, which can be used to place a block just behind the ball.

After practice you should be able to build a box by tapping the space var and placing blocks at a selected spot as the ball bounces into the box press the Space bar to trap it.

There are 26 balls in all and the object of the game is to trap them using as few blocks as possible. The lower your score the better you are.

Join in the farmyard fun and have a smashing time in this eggstra-special game by Roland Waddilove

Old farmer Brown has been having a spot of trouble with his chickens lately - they just will not stay still while he collects the eggs.

The birds fly to and fro, the eggs ending up everywhere.

Can you help him catch the eggs as they drop?

If you manage to catch fifty or more before the chicken reaches the bottom you move on to the next level, where everything moves faster.

Have you ever fancied yourself as a handsome prince, rescuing a damsel in distress from the castle where she's imprisoned?

Andrew Gardiner's program, EDUCATION CASTLE, lets you find out just how successful you would be.

Can you answer the questions correctly and reach the top of the steps? Or are you bad at sums and due for a duckling?

Either way it's a great way to practice simple sums.

Now all we need is a game about frogs and princesses...

Ian Rodgers adds a whole new meaning to the term 'flow chart'

HOT WATER makes use of the Electron's graphics commands to produce a coloured diagram of a domestic hot water system. It's simple yet effective, showing the Electron's design potential.

And we doubt whether it will stop at HOT WATER. Here at Electron User we've noticed that a program we feature one month sparks off lots of ideas for other ones.

We wonder what will follow next. A diagram of a steam engine or a car piston? Maybe an animated electrical circuit diagram? You'd better send us some, or you'll be in hot water!

Is your memory as good as the Electron's? Find out in Alan Gornall's version of the classic card game

PAIRS is a game relying heavily upon memory, where you have to locate, among the pack of face down cards laid out before you, a pair that match up.

Each time you do this the pair is removed from the pack, your score increases by one, and you are allowed another go.

The micro plays by the same set of rules, its ability being pre-determined by the level of play - from one to four - that you select.

Level one is the easiest, and each successive level becomes increasingly difficult, up to the last which is almost impossible to beat without resorting to pad and pencil.

A card is chosen by first entering its horizontal coordinate (A to M) and then its vertical coordinate (1 to 4).

The computer always has first go, but this is no real hardship, as it is unlikely to pick up a pair at its first attempt.

The remaining variables are not included as they are either procedure-specific or flags used to see whether a specific event has occured or not.

Other sub-procedures are called from within these procedures during the course of a run, and these are briefly explained in REM statements in the program.

By Alan Griffiths

RACER gives you all the thrill of the race track as you use the Electron's keyboard to drive around the circuit.

The idea is to steer your car using the Z and X keys to go left and right respectively.

You gain points as you speed along, but you also lose them should you hit any of the white bollards that mark the track.

Also there are cars coming towards you that you must avoid at all cost. Hit these head-on and you'll lose more points.

As if this isn't enough there are nine levels of play, with the track becoming longer and narrower on each level.

When you reach the finish the Electron will tell you your score and compare it with the high score.

Then it's off on the road again.

Venture deep into the labyrinth of despair, beat the wizard and collect your reward in this adventure game by Mike Bibby

Far far away, beyond the Ice Mountains, lies the weird and wonderful KINGDOM OF CRAAL with its magnificient palace, crystal clear lake and enchanted forest.

It is a peaceful land, ruled for many happy years by King Meek who was respected by most of his subjects for his good nature and integrity - and his rather dishy, if inefficient, handmaiden Jut.

There was one character however, who was not party to this overwhelming admiration - Vadham the evil wizard.

Many years ago, he was banished to the castle dungeons for trying to nick the king's gold plated penknife - the one with a special blade for taking stones out of horses hooves.

In his spare time when he was not mixing spells or playing Gauntlet, he turned the dungeon into a labyringth of despair, where only the brave had the courage to enter. Having said that, we haven't seen any of them come back yet.

You were born in Craal, the handsome son of a cobbler and many years ago you decided to seek a fortune in far off lands.

You returned many times to visit your old mum and dad and spend the occasional happy hour in the company of the king's daughter Andrea.

What was once a childhood crush blossomed into love, and you have returned for good to claim your bride.

Alas on this last visit you found the king dead and the palace in uproar. The wizard had taken a heaven-sent opportunity and, as the king opened the door down to the dungeons to let out the castle moggie, he grabbed his magnificient gold crown and disappeared into his hidey hole in the depths - better than a penknife no doubt, but not much use for getting things out of horses hooves.

You, in your typical youthful manner, were only interested in your future wife - Andrea. The palace guards, the footmen, the courtesans and even Ethel the cleaner, however, were not impressed with your infatuation and by a unanimous decision volunteered your services to retrieve the crown.

They threw you head-over-heels down the dungeon steps with a warning that should you return empty handed all your beloved possessions would be forfeit, even your subscription to Electron User. Some people stop at nothing.

Well, you have your challenge and you don't really have much option but to accept it.

In this serious adventure you have at your disposal six single letter commands. These are n, s, e, w, l and i - for the four compass directions, plus look and inventory. Notice - they're all in lower case.

The program will also accept other standard adventure commands such as take, drop, hit and say. These words are intelligent, which means that if you have a key and want it in a lock, all you need to say is 'Drop key'. It will automatically go in the lock.

Now there's not much point in your typing in an adventure and finding, as you do, all the solutions within the listing. In order to conceal the clues therefore, I've written the important message in code and they're all in the data statements at the end of the program.

There's nothing clevel in what I've done, and I'm sure you'll soon spot that all the printed text has been offset by three letters. The subroutine starting at line 510 decodes it all and turns it into sensible English in the finished product.

It is imperative that great care is taken when entering these data lines if you are to enjoy the result of your toils.

Well, I think I've told you enough now. Any more hints and it wouldn't be much of an adventure, would it?

It only remains to wish you luck when you set out in your search for the crown - you're going to need it!