Producer: CRL
Retail Price: £7.95
Author: TFM and TEBS

Sophistry takes place in a complex of 21 abstract levels. Each level comprises several interconnected 3-D game boards consisting of marked blocks. At the beginning of the game only 20% of the structure is opened up. The player's objective is to obtain the 64 keys scattered throughout the environment which will unlock the gates leading to the 21st level and open the construction 100%. This can be achieved by retrieving the keys in person or by amassing points to trade for them.

The player takes control of small pod-like craft capable of moving in all four directions. As it jumps across the blocks their different attributes are activated; scoring blocks and target blocks increase points. Landing on blocks and jokers, in various sequences of ascending and descending order, gains bonus points. Missing a block or attempting to leave the board at an unmarked exit results in the loss of one of five lives.

The basic concept of search and find is complicated by the properties peculiar to each block. A status panel to the left of the screen indicates whether certain restrictions are in operation or not. On some boards exits are locked and cannot be opened until a certain number of points have been scored or a specified period of time has been spent on the current board. Conversely, other boards must be cleared before a stopwatch countdown reaches zero.

Other features include mystery blocks (a variety of beneficial and adverse effects), false exits and seekers; contact with the latter means instant death. Tracking status determines how much strategic thinking is necessary to negotiate each board. A random chain reaction which creates fatal low blocks, a force which keeps the pod moving until it hits a target and sudden countdowns are just a few of the problems to be encountered. In trickier situations one of the player's 50 uppers may be activated. These increase the value of all scoring blocks by one and occasionally recover blocks which have disappeared.

In between boards, the player can exchange points for extra uppers, the elimination of seekers, the opening of locks or bonus lives. A map and selective instructions can also be consulted. On-screen displays indicate current level, number of lives and uppers remaining, game time and score.

COMMENTS

Joystick: Cursor, Kempston, Sinclair
Graphics: great 3-D perspective creates an involving atmosphere. Despite the small size of the characters they are superbly drawn and animated
Sound: no tunes, but a wide range of impressive spot effects during the game
Options: definable keys

Sophistry is complex, compelling and original. It derives its tactical elements from games like patience and chess and makes ingenious use of its three dimensions. The graphics are polished; the pod hops smoothly from brick to brick and the texture of the squares is innovatively exploited. The various tracking and locking features, block sequences and restrictions add incredible depth to the basic board game principle. Flexibility is all - there are endless possibilities for complicated variations. Success depends on a wide range of skills: some screens require quick reactions and joystick control as well as strategy and logical thought. Fortunately there are more ways than one of conquering the complex, so if you can't see your way through a particularly tough screen the game doesn't just grind to a halt. My only quibble regards the instructions which brim with informative detail but lack a straightforward explanation of the basic rules. Don't let this put you off: the indecipherable information sheet hides a highly addictive, ingeniously devised game with a brain. If you've also got one, buy Sophistry.
KATI

It's amazing how the quality of games can vary within a company. CRL, not exactly renowned for hundreds of awe-inspiring games, have certainly come up with the goods this time. Sophistry is not just another puzzle game - it requires a great amount of planning and thought, combined with arcade reactions and risk. Unlike most puzzle games the object is not as simple as it first seems. A great amount of mapping is required for anybody hoping to have a chance of getting anywhere with it. The presentation is very original - as with most games there are many options, but these can also be accessed from within the game, not just on the title screen. With such a wide combination of things that can happen on each of the screens it is impossible not to be enthralled by Sophistry. With this and Brainstorm on offer, puzzlers are in for a real treat this month.
PAUL

This game is packed full of variety and addictiveness. The 3-D playing board is a great idea and the way the little pod hops from one block to another is very smooth. Each block does something different and there are almost endless ways of completing the game so you can never get bored. The only thing that I found irritated me in Sophistry was the way the game went back to the title screen after you have left each board. I found this totally unnecessary. A special key that took you back would have worked just as well, if not better. Blocks that disappear when you touch them add an element of frustration to the game but this makes it even more fun when trying to correct your steps next time round. Sophistry is bursting with addictiveness just waiting to pounce out at any unsuspecting game buyer, watch out for it!
NICK

CRL
£7.95
Reviewer: Marcus Berkmann

What? A CRL megagame? You're pulling my long dangly bit. But no, this is an excellent game, if you like this sort of thing, and I do, I do, I do, I do, as Abba once commented.

Sophistry uses all the old 3-D isometric Knight Lore-ish techniques, but to new ends. At first devilishly complicated, it soon turns into a fascinatingly diverse and addictive arcade adventure, that in its complexity rather resembles Bobby Bearing with knobs on (fnar).

The idea is to reach the 21st level of an enormous network of interlocking screens, each of which is covered with blocks that you bounce along on. Most blocks score you points when you hit them, the precise number, (ranging from 1 to 84), being determined by the little black shape on the block. Other important blocks are exit blocks, which lead off onto the next screen; target blocks, which give you extra points whenever you land on them; and neutral blocks, which don't score you points but remain safe when all else fails. These are very handy, because there are complications aplenty throughout the game. On many screens the Decrement Status (abbreviated to DEC), is switched on, meaning that every time you hit a block it drops in value by one point. Harmless enough, until it drops in value to no points at all, whereupon it disappears. This can make life hard if you wish to get back the same way.

Equally nasty is when the Tracking Status is switched on. Then you can only land on each block once, until you hit the target block, which releases all the other blocks you landed on. Nasty, huh? Try coping with both DEC ON and TRACK ON.

Then there are the various types of screen, like Freeway (where nothing stops your progress), Countdown (where you must leave before the time runs out), and about a dozen infinitely nastier ones, like Inertia, where you keep on moving, changing direction as you go, until you hit the target block. Finally you might find some of the screens 'locked', which stops you getting off the screen, until either a certain time has elapsed, or you have amassed enough points.

Each of the 21 levels, has its own maze of levels, and although you get a rough map, there's no way of knowing which screens really lead to which, let alone the hazards you're likely to encounter on the way. As well as Map Mode, there's Comptrol Mode, which offers you data about seekers, inter-level locks and so on, plus the option of exchanging points for all sorts of extra little useful things. Yes, 'cos points make prizes (What do points make? Prizes!) Some info, though, is marked Restricted Access, which means that you information access level (which ranges from D8 to A1, and is determined by how well you're doing), is not high enough. So there are always new treats in store.

All in all, a lot of thought and care has gone into the design of Sophistry. I'm told that after its deal with Electronic Arts, all CRL's games will be this good. Well, that would be a pleasant surprise, but while not counting chickens, let's just say that this will happily keep me going for the time being. If you took like your games to have a bit of brain content, I'm sure you'll dribble all over this, especially if like my you though B Bearing had the right idea, but wasn't quite there. A cracker.

Label: CRL
Author: Roderick McFarquar
Price: £7.95
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Tony Dillon

Sophistry is an exploration game, with over 400 screens worth for you to die on. You play a little marble like thing who has to find 64 keys to open up every room on every level. The keys are hidden around all of the 20 levels of the game, and boy, does this game demand a lot of thinking before you start getting the keys. A map is definitely called for.

Each of the screens are composed of little blocks, each looking like the graphic symbols on the top row on a Spectrum keyboard. Altogether, they look like dominoes, that's not important. Your little marble bounces from block to block in all of 4 directions (Woooooo!) it starts easily enough but on later screens the blocks start disappearing! Timing jumps then becomes essential. The blocks on each screen are laid out like a maze, and on some screens lots of strategy is required, especially with problems like locked exits and seekers. Eh? you say, what dey? Read on...

As well as the basic maze aspect of the game, there are lots of other features to make the game harder and generally give me more to write about. Each of the screens have different scenarios and features. The scenarios include Freeway, which means that you can move anywhere without restriction and Jumpy, which makes the blocks immediately adjacent surge up and down. Various others exist, but I'm not going to let you into all the secrets.

Seekers are another feature of the games - funny little animals that chase you around the screen. More surprises with the mystery blocks. Land on these for the unexpected. It might be bonus points, an extra man. It might even kill only seekers on the current screen.

Each level is different, on some the exits don't always open automatically. Some are time locked, which means you have to stay on the screen for a specific time before the exits open. On others, the exits are scorelocked, which means that you have to score a certain amount before the doors open.

The graphics on the game are good. Very good for what is really a strategy game in fact. The boards are presented in pseudo 3-D view across the board. The marble you play is very well animated. When it jumps, it splits like a spring, then comes back together. Stray off the blocks, or try to leave via a block that isn't an exit and you'll explode. Painful but true.

Sophistry is a great game, and one I recommend to both strategy and arcade games alike. And even my granny thinks it's the best thing since sliced corn flakes.

CRL produce a puzzler.

Isometric 3D games may be old hat, but it's safe to say that no-one's ever done one quite like this before. CRL seem to think it's a boardgame of some sort but actually it's more of an arcade adventure crossed with a puzzle.

The game area spans 20 levels, each with 20 or so screens to them. You start with access to only the first five levels, the aim of the game being to open up the locks between the remaining levels until you've got access to the whole thing. You can open the levels either by exploration - there are 64 keys scattered around the layout, enough to finish the game with - or by building your score up and using the points as currency to 'buy' the locks open.

The layout and object of the game may be fairly straightforward, but the low-level gameplay really is distinctly odd. Once you're on a screen, the main difficulty is getting off it again without losing lives. Typically the entrance from the previous screen locks itself behind you, while other exits have their problems too. On some screens you'll need to survive a certain length of time to unlock the exits, while others require you to score a certain number of points before you can leave.

The main method of scoring is movement: each block you bounce onto gives you points according to a symbol on its surface with one, the 'target' block, being the most valuable of all. The target moves every time you land on it, so it'll have you chasing all round the screen if you're determined to gain points fast. Targets become vital on screens with descending blocks, where hopping on the same block twice will kill you landing on a target resets the screen, opening up routes around the block layout that you'd closed off.

Ten types of special screen with extra difficulties to them will help keep you on your toes. Some have time limits within which you've got to get off the screen; some have "chains" of descending blocks that pursue you; while others feature timing problems or blocks that disappear behind you. Mystery blocks can give you handy extra points, unleash alien seekers' to hunt you down, or open screen exits for you.

This one's a pleasingly unconventional departure for CRL, but somehow its various interesting parts don't quite gel the way they might. There's mapping and route-planning if you like that side of things, while timing and similar problems offer an arcade challenge. The game task is big enough to keep you busy for a while too. It's just that for much of the game there's no urgency or immediate danger to hold your attention. Subsequent screens all look much the same, only a handful of them are really taxing and an in-game information feature lists all the different screens you can come across, so there's not the incentive to go exploring that the game needs.

Reviewer: Andy Wilton

RELEASE BOX
Spec, £7.95cs, Out Now
No other versions planned.

Predicted Interest Curve

1 min: 50/100
1 hour: 70/100
1 day: 85/100
1 week: 70/100
1 month: 50/100
1 year: 10/100

MACHINES: Spectrum
PRICE: £7.95
SUPPLIER: CRL

Billed as "the board game of the future", Sophistry is like nothing so much as a more sophisticated and intellectual variant on that old favourite, Marble Madness.

It also has to be said that it is a much slower game too, the idea not being a crash bang chase around the screen, but a steady collection of keys and points, which you can trade for keys. Get enough of these and you'll be able to reach your objective, the 21st level, though what if anything you find there is anybody's guess. Yep, I'm afraid the slow gameplay and monochrome graphics meant that my interest flagged long before the hallowed twenty. That's not to say that yours will though - it just depends upon your taste in games. The advertising blurb isn't so far off, as it does in fact bear more resemblance to something you'd play with a square of cardboard and little plastic counters than anything you'll find down the local arcade.

You play a little sort of, well... shape that bounces around the various levels like a frog on lillypads, collecting the keys as they appear, and shooting down transporters and wormholes when you want a change of scene. Plenty of the levels are perfectly straightforward, but there are also some oddities; where the lillypads disappear as you go past them, or where you have a time limit to cross the board, for instance. There are also things called seekers that you have to be avoid, and - unlike most frogs - you can't swim, so plopping in the water is definitely not to be recommended.

One of the more off-putting aspects of Sophistry is that despite the relative simplicity of most of the game play, there are actually quite a lot of rules to be learnt. It is like chess in fact if you have someone to teach you who knows it well there should be no problem, but try and learn the blessed thing from the instructions, and you'll be here 'til kingdom come. Quite possibly there are a whole load of tactics waiting to be discovered that will make it a challenge for the best strategy games players amongst us, but then I was never very good at chess either...

Let's go into some of the instructions just to give you an idea of what I mean: You can exit any level by the holes indicated on the screen, and also by the direction indicated on the cross like display at top left. However this may change while you are playing a board. If the tracking mode is on you have to land on a target block (indicated by a ring) to release the blocks in your track before you can land on them again. There are various types of seeker, with varying degrees of dangerousness, and it's type determines just when it will appear on the board, and how easy it will be to kill. Confused? You will be...

How about this quote: "If you are on a scorelocked board in a scenario such as No return, RATIONS, COUNTDOWN or REPULSION and you thing you may have to use UPPERS to get out of it, it is best to use them as early as possible."

WHAAAT? It is not as if in the context of the game it gets any easier.

I'm afraid what this appears to me to be is a very simple collecting idea with a great number of extra, and not especially logical, rules added to make it more challenging and interesting. It is the complete opposite of a game like Arkanoid where the basic gameplay is very playable anyway and all the additional bits and pieces just serve to add spice. Here the original game is really too dull to make it on it's own, and the added extras only serve to complicate and frustrate.

A Ford Granada will never be as good as a Jaguar, no matter how many extras you add.

Sophistry isn't a real stinker like plenty of games we see, but nor does it hold enough to make it very good. Write in and tell me I'm wrong it you like, but I don't think many of you will.

Spectrum 48K Cassette: £7.95

BLOC BLOCKING UP

Sophistry marks the commercial debut of Roderick McSarquar, a young Scottish programmer currently attending Glasgow university. It also marks the close of the CRL/Electronic Arts distribution contract - future CRL products are to be handled by Terry Blood Distribution.

The objective of Sophistry is misleadingly simple: obtain 64 keys to access the 400-plus screens (contained in 21 levels), and reach the final level to complete the game.

At the start, only 20% of the structure is open. Each screen is presented in isometric 3-D with a pattern of various types of blocks which have to be crossed in search of the keys. You move around the screen in a small pod-like vehicle which can jump in four directions, but is destroyed - losing a life - if it does not land on an upright block.

The complexity of the game comes from the various functions of these blocks and the restrictions imposed on particular screens. Blocks consist of horizontal and vertical exits, mystery features, jokers, targets and scoring blocks: points can be exchanged for keys. Restrictions include Countdown: a limited time to complete a screen, Hi-Lo: a target appears on screen, which must be reached only when in possession of a defined score and Freeway: representing a restriction-free screen. Other features are Decrement Status: reduces the value of scoring blocks by one. Tracking: makes blocks unusable unless the target square is hit, and Locking Conditions: determine if exits are locked and how they may be opened. Information on these features is displayed in the lower right of the screen. An indication of the screen exit and the type of block the pod-ship is currently on is shown top left.

THE NEW SEEKERS

Whenever the pod-ship moves onto another screen, or loses a life, the options screen flashes up to allow the in-game instructions to be read, the map perused or comptrol mode accessed. The latter enables the control keys/joystick options, save or load game position, sound on/off and game restart (necessary when lives are exhausted). You tidy also the obtain data on the current level or use your points to gain keys, lives and terminate the seekers which pursue the pod across certain screens.