Chain Reaction

From volume 9, issue 1 of Compute! #080, dated January 1987. In this explosive strategy game for a variety of computers, the contest is never finished until your last bomb has been thrown. "Chain Reaction" is a clever strategy game for one or two players. Whether you play against the computer or another human, the objective is the same: to eliminate all of your opponent's bomb-shaped pieces from the field of play. The game is played on a 5 X 6 grid of squares, and the players alternate turns, placing one bomb in a square on each turn.

The results of a move depend on how many bombs are already in the chosen square and adjacent squares. Whenever any square reaches "critical mass," it explodes and sends its bombs into neighboring squares. If those squares are already loaded to capacity, they explode too, creating a chain reaction that can engulf a large area of the board.