Sid Meier's SimGolf

Taking its lead from the simple interface of games such as Theme Park, Sid Meier's Sim Golf is very easy to get to grips with, courtesy of intuitive controls and a helpful tutorial mode. You can choose to set your golf club up in one of 16 locations across the globe, and thanks to an inheritance from your late Uncle, you've got limited funding to help you get things going. Naturally enough, you'll start small, building up and expanding as you get more successful, and it'll take some time until you can finish building the 18th, at which point you can try and attract tournaments whilst constructing a new course elsewhere in the world.

Admittedly, the premise may not initially generate excitement, but credit where credit's due, for this is a challenging, enjoyable strategy game that never leaves you bewildered, yet still presents quite a job to start generating profit. The lack of an overall objective beyond that won't endear it to those who like a predefined goal to achieve, and the laid-back gameplay style may similarly leave some players cold. Yet there are so many intricate little challenges to the game, particularly when attempting to construct the best holes you can, that it's an easy way to lose track of time and relax for a couple of hours. An ideal next step for fans of Tycoon-style games.--Simon Brew (Review copyright Amazon.co.uk)