Awari

ZX Computing

James Walsh

IN THE AIR TONIGHT After a brief time in simulated flight, James Walsh comes down to earth to look at the African game, Awari. I've got two programs to look at for the 16K ZX81, both of which are a little different from the run of the mill stuff. First, we have Awari (no, this is not a mis-spelling of a certain well-known computer company) which is available from Understanding Limited (they must have LOADing problems too!!) for £5.95. There are various prizes to be won depending on where you buy it. The second program is called Pilot, which is available from the people at Hewson Consultants for £5.95. I shall start with Awari, which is an ancient African game of logic. The game is played using 14 'bowls' each of which may hold any number of 'beans'. Bowls numbered 1 to 6 belong to you, ie you can move the beans out of them, and your 'home' bowl is number 7 on the right. Your objective is to get as many beans into bowl 7 as possible and so to beat the computer. Similarly, bowls 8 to 13 at the top 'belong' to the ZX81, and bowl 14 on the left is its 'home'. The idea of the game is that you may choose one of the bowls numbered from 1 to 6, which contain at least 1 bean, remove them and place them one at a time in the bowls to the right and anti-clockwise. The ZX81 then chooses from bowls 8 to 13 and moves to the left and anti-clockwise. When you get more proficient, you can investigate the more complicated moves. There are three levels of play, which will accommodate an intelligent eight year old to an adult. Though the game is basically quite simple, it is more addictive than most non-high speed games are. The game is well set out and has a good amount of intelligently used graphics. In conclusion, though it is not the most sophisticated ZX81 program on the market, Awari is ideal for all the family. By the way, it LOADed first time. Awari is priced at £5.95 and is available from Understanding Ltd, [redacted].