You'll be walked through the initial setup step-by-step, and told exactly how to outfit your first train. After that it remains only for you to control the speed and shoot at all attackers, plus make sure that you switch onto the correct track to make your delivery. And oh yes, you can pick up new cars during the game, assuming you have the money, can carry the load, and can manipulate the air-drop chopper.

There is music and sound, some of which is helpful. And oh yes, this one is also a demo for a longer game which costs $15, and is again for Windows only.

For non-commercial games, let's turn to the BBC. CDX is a locked-room mystery game, but instead of the low-resolution graphics and simple "escape" storyline one tends to expect from the genre, you get video of bloody surgery and an engaging storyline about someone with some interesting secrets and severe amnesia.

There was a motorbike accident that has left you in a wheelchair. You're in a room. More than that you should discover for yourself by searching the room!

There is sound, but the sound is necessary for the game. How else can you get clues from answering machine messages, or use the telephone?

Registering a username will let you save your progress, and this isn't the sort of game one rolls through in one sitting, so create a username.

Such complexity and involvement begs for a simple diversion, and Balance provides it.

All you've got to do is balance a ball on the end of a stick, so if it starts to tilt to the left, you move left, and if it starts to tilt to the right, you move right. Simple? It seems like the sort of thing that would be easier on a computer than in life — just don't move the mouse!

However, the game cheats in two ways. First, it starts you off with the slightest of nudges, which means you must move the mouse right off the bat. Second, it rains nasty gray balls down on you that you must avoid. There are also colored balls, as pictured here, that are worth getting, but it's not worth losing your balance over.

It's a silent game.

I said it was simple; I didn't say it was easy. How long can you keep it up?

That's it for this week! Next week I think we might spend some time growing together.