Grandad and the Quest for the Holey Vest - on PD 441
              (Graphic adventure for 1 meg ST)

              Reviewed by Frederick Darlington

Grandad is a game written in STOS basic. In the game you play the
part of a grumpy old gentleman who spends his time pottering
around the house in his wheelchair. The problem is that Grandad
has a habit of hiding things away and then forgetting where he has
put them.  So when autumn arrives and Grandad starts to feel the
cold, he decides he wants his vest. The trouble is he has
forgotten where he has put it.

Your task is to guide Grandad around, solving various problems and
finding the required door keys until you find the place where
Grandad has hidden his vest. But the wheelchair is battery powered
and you must complete your task before the power runs out.

The game is well designed with colourful, well-drawn graphics for
the various locations. Control of the game is via the keyboard or
by the joystick. The game has a nice touch of humour with some
very funny responses if you try to perform the wrong task. A good
example of this is what happens when you try to fix the fuse box.
The puzzles are mostly quite logical but they sometimes require a
bit of thought. It sometimes pays to remember you are playing a
grumpy character.

I would certainly recommend Grandad, some of the jokes alone are
worth the price. There is only one slight problem with the game,
that is that the game is shareware and in the PD version you are
restricted to just one level. When you register, you will be given
a code number which will enable you to play the later levels of
the game.

I have read a number of articles which say that STOS is not
suitable for writing games. If this game is an example of STOS,
then STOS has plenty to offer to anybody who wants to write or
play adventure games.

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