SPECTRUM GAMES YOU CAN PHYSICALLY PLAY

By Stephen Smith - stevo@REMOVE-THIScarlylesmith.karoo.co.uk

You may think you can only play Spectrum games on a computer, or more specifically, a Spectrum. And you'd be right. However, should your computer be unavailable for any length of time (normally due to a power cut or the keyboard membranes cocking-up), you can still re-live those Golden Moments with this indispensable guide to Spectrum Games you can Physically Play.


XENO (A'n'F Software)

You will need:-

  1. A game of "Connect 4"
  2. A wooden table or other suitable surface
  3. 4 tins of food (the heavier the better)
  4. An opponent
How to Play:-
To play this game, simply take one disc of each colour from the Connect 4 game. Place them at either end of the wooden table, and place a tin at each corner, as close to the edge as possible without them falling off. The idea is to take turns in flicking your disc into your opponents', knocking it off any thin edge of the table. Should this happen, the player with their piece remaining gets 1 point. If any piece falls off a long edge, the other player wins a point. The first player get 15 points wins.

For a variation, try using more than one piece per player, but you can only take one shot at a time. You can also use teams.


Battleships (Elite)

You will need:-

  1. 2 Sheets of paper
  2. 2 Pencils
  3. An opponent
How to play:-
Oh come on!


Jet Set Willy (Software Projects)

You will need:-

  1. An empty house
  2. Several glasses
How to play:-
Spread the glasses liberally around the empty house, especially on top of high shelves. Then each person takes a turn to see how long it takes them to run in from a pre-defined entrance (e.g. the front door), collect all the glasses, and then get back out again. The person to do it in the least time is the winner. The loser is not allowed to go to bed that night, and must sleep on the floor.

This game can be improved if the other players, while waiting for the current player to collect all the glasses, each run around the house following a predefined path and carrying an object like a saw or a toilet lid, try and get in the players way.


Quadrajoin (?)

You will need:-

  1. A set of Connect 4 from MB Games.
  2. An opponent
How to play:-
It's Connect 4 for God's sake! Use your brain!


Steve Davis' Snooker (CDS Microsystems)

You will need:-

  1. A Snooker table
How to play:-
Google the rules of snooker.


Scrabble (Psion)

You will need:-

  1. Aaaarrrggghhh!!


Right, let's be serious now. I'm not going to do Cyrus is Chess or Artic Football because that just wouldn't be funny.

Motos (Mastertronic)

You will need:-

  1. A large bed, or one of those crashmats like what they put behind a pole- vault jump. The larger and the higher-up it is, the better. Maybe even two beds next to each other?
  2. Some opponents

How to play:-
Everybody who is playing must stand on the playing area that you are using. Then, as soon as someone blows a whistle or starts the music, the aim of the game is to try and get everybody else except yourself to touch the floor by pushing them off the platform. The last person left standing is the winner.

This game does have a tendency to turn into a wrestling match.


HOSTAGES (Infogrames)

You will need:-

  1. An Iranian Embassy
  2. An SAS Death Squad
  3. A madman intent on causing World War 3
How to play:-
[These instructions have been removed for legal reasons.]


Turbo Esprit (Durell)

You will need:-

  1. A Lotus Esprit Turbo
  2. No conscience whatsoever
  3. Diplomatic Immunity (for when you run people over)
  4. A cloth to wipe the blood off
How to play:-
Climb into your lotus and drive around the street. Every time you come across a zebra crossing, you must time it right so that you run over an innocent pedestrian (just like you always do when playing the game!)


If you can think of any more Spectrum Games you can Physically Play then please tell me!

Written by Stephen Smith - stevo@REMOVE-THIScarlylesmith.karoo.co.uk