As the title suggests, this is a 3D pool game. No surprises there, but then the lack of an imaginative title is forgivable given that this is a cut above your average pool game both in terms of quality and quantity. The 3D graphics work as well as can be hoped for on the palmtop, although the game probably won't run too quickly or smoothly on a single-speed machine. Gameplay-wise, you have the choice of playing either 8-ball or 9-ball, competing in a tournament or in a one-off match, or designing (or trying out) a trick shot. The actual game of pool itself is well handled, with the physics feeling reasonably accurate, with the controls and viewpoint working well to give you good control over your choice of shot.

One annoying note: I can't work out how to "call" the final shot on the black (which effectively means that I can't win!), so if anyone does know how it's done, please, please write in and let me know!

Thanks to Chris Wilkerson for this information!

Useful notes (courtesy of Longden Loo):

You just start the program (I have it running in 90k) and the rest is somewhat self-explanatory, except the exit.  I believe the version I got was hacked for the LX computer ... the original might have required a system reboot in order to terminate it, but this version exits using the "/" key from the main screen (where it shows "D - demonstration game").  I remember some discussion of this fact a LONG time ago.  You may need to invert the screen colors.

Thank you to Longden Loo for the information on this game

[Mike's note: This is a side-scrolling fighting game]

Thanks to Chris Wilkerson for this information!

This is a collection of three related titles, the idea in each being to amass as much money as possible. The first in the collection is Oligopoly, where you are at the helm of a business. Life is complicated by having five new-found rivals, each selling identical products to yours. Thus, the aim is simple: do your best to put them out of business!

The second is Punter, a game plucked straight from the heartland of Gamblers' Heaven. Once again, making money is what it's all about, this time through various forms of gambling, from betting on the horses, through to cards and the stock market. Probably not the best choice if you've just signed up with Gamblers Anonymous...

The final game in the compendium, Millionaire, despite its relative simplicity, is without question the most bizarre of the bunch. Your task, according to the game: "using only the spacebar, your wits and quick reactions, build £1000 into a MILLION before you die!". I would elaborate further, but this is one of those games which completely defies description. You have to play it to believe it!

Each of the three titles is text-based, which means that all will run flawlessly on the palmtop, the only slight annoyance being the usual problems with the "colours" on the LCD screen.

• On startup, it sets caps lock on, so all your typing ends up in uppercase if you switch to another application.
• It was written for a CGA colour display, but is still readable and quite playable on the palmtop screen.
• There is so little room on the screen apart from the board that there is no place to put text information about the special keys used by the program, nor the values of the special squares (although they are graphically distinguished and they are available at a keypress).

Thanks to William E. Blankenship for letting me know about this game, and Laust Brock-Nannestad for information on its status!

Thanks to Matthew W. Sheffield for this information!

(If you really must know, the agreed version of the story seems to be that the game's title was mistranslated from the original Japanese title of Monkey Kong).

Thanks to Luigi for this information!

For its time, Elite was regarded as a masterstroke of programming, fitting as it did many hundreds of star systems into a tiny amount of memory. The depth of this game remains virtually unparalleled even to this day and, despite an initially steep learning curve, is an amazing piece of software.

Incidentally, you might also want to check out an excellent Windows game by the same author, MicroMan.

In case you hadn't already guessed, I loved this game! Highly recommended for all you football fans!

Thanks to Matthew W. Sheffield for this information!

For more information, resources and links, check out Pete Scheyen's Infocom homepage (or its European mirror).

A useful starting point might be to read A Beginner's Guide to Interactive Fiction, which is housed along with a huge number of downloads and resources at the Interactive Fiction Archive.

Thank you to Gilles Kohl for this information!

Unfortunately, this vertically-scrolling space shoot-em-up seems to require EGA (or at least, the shareware version does).

Thanks to Chris Wilkerson for this information!

[Mike's note: key200 is a program in the folder of the palmtop, and is used for remapping keys].

Thanks to Laust Brock-Nannestad for this information!

Thanks to Ian Butler for sharing this game with me - it's a nice game, even if doesn't run on the LX!

The ever-so-slightly implausible plot behind this game is that you live in a land where plenty of manholes exist... but none are covered. Thus, you decide to save the poor citizens from falling through the various holes in the ground, by covering (one hole at a time, because you only have one manhole cover) them as they walk by. A test of reflexes, and you'll really need four eyes rather than two, to succeed. The good news is that it runs flawlessly on the palmtop.

Apart from needing the use of a slow-down utility (at least on my double-speed palmtop), Marble Madness seems to work fine. The only difficulty arises with the fact that the game is hard to play using a full-size keyboard; using the LX's keyboard makes for a real challenge!

As the name suggests, this game is a test of your athletic prowess... or, at least, your keyboard prowess. The game does work as it should (although a little quickly on my double-speed palmtop, so perhaps a slow-down program is in order), and is reasonably entertaining as well.

Thanks to Laust Brock-Nannestad for this information!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the game to run slowly enough on my machine... despite using a slow-down utility! From what I can see, the game is a platformer, but any more than that, I can't tell! If somebody has got this running on their palmtop (the game looks to be fully CGA-compatible, and has no display problems), or has any more information, then please let me know!

Mr. Ant is from the same author as Manhole and, like the previous game, works well on the palmtop. This time, however, the gameplay is faster-paced and, in my opinion, more fun! Gameplay-wise, think of Boulder Dash with ants, and you'll get the general idea. With this game, a slow-down utility will probably be needed to make the game playable.