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If you've extricated yourself from the magical grasp of Dieslowly the Wizard and beaten Bashenchopen the Troll black and blue and you're still driving around in a clapped-out Mark 1 Cortina and drinking pints of best down at the local, then Hampstead is the game for you.

You start off in your disgusting flat in north-west London watching '1-2-3' on TV (presumably you couldn't get any lower than that!). Having decided that life surely has more to offer, you begin to progress up the social scale - until you have satisfied all the requirements necessary to attain 'Hampstead'. The idea is that you'll be able to pass into said borough and be accepted by the other inmates. Requirements, of course, include such material possessions as a big car and house... and you also need a good job, a nice wife (sexist devils!), and naturally you have to be seen in the right places wearing the right clothes.

The adventure comes in the now almost mandatory large plastic box that includes a 16-page booklet containing much of the background information that's necessary for social climbing.

Most of the puzzles are thoroughly logical (there's no using a toilet roll to open the large stone portcullis here!), and the few that aren't will be explained somewhere; exploring is very worthwhile. In fact, the problems are nicely graduated and the further you get, the harder it becomes to progress; the puzzles are also quite linear and each section has to be solved before social aspiration can begin anew for the next. (For instance, you'll get nowhere without your dole money!).

All in all, Hampstead is an excellent adventure and a refreshing change from the usual dungeons-type affair... it makes a worthy addition to any collection.

Overall Not Rated

Peter Shaw, David Nicholls