Bossman

Crash

Use of Computer 45%

Graphics 55%

Playability 53%

Getting Started 59%

Addictive Qualities 30%

Value For Money 38%

Overall 44%

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Producer: Avalon Software Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: Language: BASIC Bossman is a graphical strategy simulation where you run your own factory and try to make a million. New software house, Avalon, are venturing into the realm which C.C.S. have made very much their own until recently. Your factory manufactures Robovacs and, as the owner, you presumably know what those are since the producers don't tell you - robotic vacuum cleaners no doubt. The kinds of problems you will encounter include the hiring of a workforce (and the firing of it), coping with wage demands, illness, strike threats, deciding how many Robovacs to build and paying your stock costs and income tax. As usual with this type of game, there are various random disasters that tend to crop up such as Flu and flash floods. You can also increase the retail price of your product to take into account inflation and rising wages. The game commences with a fixed factory report, to which you return after each round for an update on the status. This starts you off with an amount of capital (not much), Robovacs in store (none), present cost of manufacture per unit, total number of workforce, weekly wage, total weekly wage bill, maximum output per person, and total output possible per week. Your first task is to decide how many more people you can afford or want to employ. Next you must decide how many Robovacs to make in week one. You are then told how many were made, the target figure suffering because of absences through illness or adverse travelling conditions, or perhaps stock delays or machine failures. Having established the actual total made, the computer then sells your stock for you, informs of how many were sold and updates the status report. When this is complete you are shown the wage bill and income tax amount, and finally whether you made a profit or a loss. The game is accompanied by graphics throughout, about six different pictures from the exterior of the factory unit to the sales office with its optimistic graph in the background, right through to the Crown Court where you are bankrupted! COMMENTS Control keys: numerics and ENTER all screen-prompted Graphics: nicely detailed Colour: well used Sound: lively beeps and whistles Skill levels: 1 Originality: typical of its kind

An idyllic setting for making Robovacs - and money if you can...

Neat, clean and ideal surroundings for electronics workers don't stop them making wage demands.