A Day at the Races by Cavalier Software is a horse racing betting game for everyone who depends on how compulsive gambling is.

The show's blurb proclaims “the smell of the turf, the research of racing, the thrill of the elegant thoroughbreds and their stadium roar…”

The game remains primitive in terms of graphics and with the classic beep that characterizes the PCW, where the thoroughbreds seem to be represented by beetles, justifying, affirming and at the same time questioning it.

Still, it provides the basic ingredient: a race with nine horses and an undetermined winner. It sets the odds, gives you the money, and quickly calculates your win (or loss).

You've got all the doors stuck, people falling and others consulting to add to the excitement and when you've won your fortune you'll have the chance to invest in everything from a car to a £350,000 mansion. Or (as is more likely) when you reach your credit limit you will be able to sell your shares or borrow from a lender or sell what little we have left.

It carefully tells you how things are going in each race, even though there seems to be nothing more than a random chance behind the winner in any event. Plenty of evidence shows that consistently betting on the favorite and the higher ranked outsider loses money at the same rate; in this he would seem to be quite authentic.

This is really the kind of game you see on a list you can write yourself in BASIC textbooks, and not what you expect for £15.