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QUICK THINKING PLUS

Professional, Originally Released On Cassette Only

Game Type : Educational

Author :

Standalone Release(s) : 1983: QUICK THINKING PLUS, Mirrorsoft, £6.95

Compilation Release(s) : None

Stated compatibility : Electron/BBC Dual Version

Actual compatibility : Electron, BBC B, B+ and Master 128

Supplier : MIRRORSOFT, Holborn Circus, LONDON EC1P 1DQ

Disc compatibility : CDFS E00, DFS E00

Instructions

"Two mind-stretching games by Widgit Software

SUM VADERS - armed only with mental power and nimble fingers you eliminate invading alien robots by adding or subtracting vital numbers. But the alien forces continuously speed up their invasion. Can your survive and save the world from a robot invasion?

Several levels of difficulty and a two-player game with a handicap option make SUM VADERS an equal challenge for all family members, from 8 years to adult.

ROBOT TABLES - control a machine processing raw material into a sequence of perfect robots. Do you know enough arithmetic to set the machine to the right process? The automatic factory won't stop if you give the wrong instructions.

Several levels of difficulty and a choice of speed makes ROBOT TABLES an ideal way to exercise multiplication tables both for early learners and more advanced children. Recommended from 6 or 7 to 12 years old and beyond.

There are two great games on this cassette - SUM VADERS and ROBOT TABLES. They are taped in this order on Side A, with back-up copies in the same order on Side B.

You can avoid long waits by running the tape through on Fast Forward or Rewind until you find the program you want. If you have a tape counter on your recorder you can use it to locate the programs easily if you note the readings at the start of programs, having first set the counter to zero at the tape start.

You are automatically given the choice to load ROBOT TABLES when you take the exit option from SUM VADERS.

Playing The Games

Sum Vaders

Alien invaders in numbered space ships fly into vision, hover and drop an invading robot, also bearing a number. The aim of the game is to eliminate the robot before it lands on Earth. In the Adding version of the game this is done by adding the two numbers together. In the Subtracting version the Robot's number must be taken away from the space ship's number.

Typing in the correct answer before the robot lands destroys the robot.

If you are wrong or too late, the robot will land. The correct answer is displayed.

After you have entered a number of right answers the game speeds up, the space ship flies at a lower level, and you get a shorter time in which to answer. As the speed increases the score given for each correct answer also goes up.

The game ends when give robots have landed. In each game session the best score is recorded on the screen.

The game can also be played by two players, each choosing a different level of difficulty. This allows a child to play an adult and still have a chance of winning. In the two-player game, high scores are separately recorded for each player.

At the end of each game there is a choice to play again at the same level (press <1>) or return to the choices at the start of the game (press <0>).

At the start of the game these are the choices you will be offered:

Adding or Subtracting

* press <A> for adding sums

* press <S> for subtracting sums

Instructions for players

* press <N> to see illustrated instructions

* press <1> for one player

* press <2> for two players

* press <0> to stop

Level of Difficulty

* press <1> :only numbers up to 9 are used

* press <2> :one number is in multiples of 10, and the other is a single digit (eg 30 + 7 = 37 or 50 + 2 = 52)

* press <3> :two digit numbers may be used, but a carry is not produced

* press <4> :any numbers up to 99

* press <5> :as choice 4, but the action can get very fast!

When there are two players, Player 1 chooses the level of difficulty first, as shown in the on-screen instructions.

Robot Tables

You are in charge of a robot making machine and your aim is to make a sequence of ten perfect robots. The raw material you need to make each robot in the sequence is fed automatically to the machine. Each lump of raw material carries a number and you must tell the machine whether or not the number on the lump is next in the sequence.

Only two controls are used:

* press <1> if the raw material number is the next (or first) correct number in the sequence

* press <SPACE> if the raw material is NOT the correct number in the sequence

Which number is right?

You find out the right numbers in the sequence by working out the multiplication tables in your head. A panel on the front of the machine shows which multiplication table is being used for a sequence.

For example, if the panel shows that the multiplication table is 3, the raw material you accept for the machine to make the first robot is 3. All other numbers must be rejected. Raw material for the second robot must be numbered 6, for the third, 9 and so on.

The multiplication table in use might be any number up to 12, depending on which level of difficulty you have chosen.

What does the machine do?

Suppose we are still on the three-times table and we are starting to make the first robot.

If the raw material is numbered 3, which is the right answer, and you accept it (press <1>), the machine makes a perfect robot. If you reject it (press <SPACE>), the machine makes a damaged robot.

But what happens if the first lump of raw material is not numbered 3, let's say it's 4, for example? If you accept it (press <1>), the machine burns up the raw material. If you reject it (press <SPACE>), the machine recycles the raw material.

Scoring points

You score points for making good robots and for recycling material. You lose points for bad robots and wasted material. A panel on the right of the machine records your score. You earn bonus points for every sequence of ten perfect robots.

The machine's speed is fixed and you must answer while the indicator light is green, before the raw material enters the main machine. There is a warning sound before the light turns red and you miss your chance to answer.

Learing and Testing

There are two modes for the game - Learning and Testing.

Learning mode displays the number sequence of the table before the game starts. There is a generous response time and answers are displayed after each robot is made.

Testing mode has a shorter time in which to respond and answers are not displayed until the end of a sequence of ten robots. However, more points are awarded for correct answers (and lost for wrong ones!)

At the start of the game these are the choices you will be offered:

Instructions and mode

* press <N> to see instructions

* press <S> for the Learning mode (slow)

* press <F> for the Testing mode (fast)

* press <0> to stop

Groups

* press <1> for two-times table only

* press <2> for 2, 3 and 10 times tables

* press <3> for 2, 3, 10, 5 and 11 times tables

* press <4> for 5, 11, 4, 6 and 9 times tables

* press <5> for 6, 9, 8, 7 and 12 times tables

Instructions' Source : QUICK THINKING (Mirrorsoft) Back Inlay And Booklet

Review (Electron User)

This package by Mirrorsoft contains two games for youngsters, SUM VADERS and ROBOT TABLES. Both programs are designed to give practice in number skills.

SUM VADERS requires you to use some quick thinking to stop the invasion of robots. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems are presented and you have to get the answer right first time. An alien spacecraft bearing a number moves across the screen. It releases a robot invader which also has a number.

The object of the game is to destroy the robot before it reaches the ground. To do that you have to type the correct response to the sum. In the addition option, you have to add the two numbers, while the subtraction option has you taking the smaller number from the larger.

The product is entered in the multiplication option and the smaller number is shared into the larger in the division option. As your skills increase, so does the difficulty, the attackers coming in lower and faster. Your turn ends when five aliens get past and land on Earth.

There are five levels of difficulty for the adding and subtracting options. Only three levels are available in the multiplication and division options.

A nice feature of this program is that two people can play in competition, each player at his own level of difficulty. This enables a child to compete with an adult, yet still be able to win. In the two-player game, high scores are separately recorded.

The second program, ROBOT TABLES, is based upon a manic machine designed to frustrate the would-be mathematician. The aim of the exercise is to create robots - in contrast to SUM VADERS, where the object was to destroy them.

The robots are produced from lumps of raw material that is fed in from the left-hand side. Each lump contains a number. You have to decide whether that number is the next one in the sequence that is displayed below. If you reject good material - a correct answer - or if you accept bad material - a wrong answer - the machine makes a damaged robot.

If the material is OK and it is accepted by you, a perfect robot is produced. If you correctly reject bad material, it's recycled. Points are credited for material recycled and each undamaged robot produced.

Bonus points are given for every sequence of ten robots that are created. There are two modes for the game - learning and testing. In the learning mode the correct sequence of numbers is first displayed. There are much longer response times and answers are displayed after each robot is made.

The testing mode is much faster and points and lost for incorrect responses. I'd be happy to use the programs with most youngsters.

John Woollard, ELECTRON USER 3. 3