''Spycat: An Interactive Exposé of M.I.4'' is an

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

for the

BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...

and

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/ home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers Ltd, to provide many of the features of that more expensive machine at a ...

, written by Peter Scott (under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Dylan) and published by

Superior Software Superior Software Ltd (also known as Superior Interactive) is a video game publisher. It was one of the main publishers for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers in the 1980s and early 1990s. It currently releases games for Microsoft Windows ...

in 1988. The game is a parody of the scandal surrounding the ''

Spycatcher ''Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer'' (1987) is a memoir written by Peter Wright, former MI5 officer and Assistant Director, and co-author Paul Greengrass. He drew on his own experiences and research into ...

'' book.

Gameplay

''Spycat'' is loosely based on the then current scandal surrounding the release of ''Spycatcher'', the memoirs of former

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...

officer and Assistant Director Peter Wright. The player takes the role of the Spycat, Peter Correct, who has worked for M.I.4 for fifty years but finds out he is to be forced to retire with a low

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

. The player must collect classified research documents (among other items), then flee to Greenland to write his memoirs. Other characters found in the game include Sir Clive Amstrad (an amalgamation of

Clive Sinclair Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics ...

and

Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics com ...

) as technical expert "Q" and the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Margo Thatch (

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

).Original instructions, Superior Software The game takes the form of an arcade adventure with the player moving through a series of locations and rooms, collecting and using items to progress. The player must avoid

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

cameras and "Q"'s electronic devices that will drain Spycat's energy. The actions in the game (e.g. picking up and using items, opening doors) are controlled using an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

panel at the top of the screen.

Development and release

Author Peter Scott completed the game while still under exclusive contract to

Audiogenic Audiogenic Software was a British video game development company. It was established in 1985 following an earlier Audiogenic company that had been founded in the late 1970s. It published its last new title in 1997, after the core of the developme ...

. Unhappy with their promotion of his games, he offered ''Spycat'' to Superior Software who wanted to publish it. Scott needed to give twelve months notice to get out of the deal with Audiogenic so ''Spycat'' (and other games he released in 1988) had to be credited only to the pseudonym Dylan.Interview with Peter Scott
Crispin Boylan, The BBC Games Archive It became the first of ten full price games Scott created for Superior between 1988 and 1990. The game was released in 1988 by Superior Software on

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

for the Acorn Electron and BBC Micro as well as 5.25"

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

for the BBC Micro and 3.5" disk for the Master Compact.

Reception

Electron User ''Electron User'' was a magazine targeted at owners of the Acorn Electron microcomputer. It was published by Database Publications of Stockport, starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990. Initially it was included as a 16- ...

'' gave the game an overall score of 7/10 with reviewer Chris Nixon finding the icon control panel "tiresome" and "unwieldy" but this is his "only complaint in an otherwise excellent game". He concludes: "''Spycat'' is an excellent arcade adventure with a strong vein of humour underlying all the action"."Spy Spoof"
Electron User #5.9, June 1988

Legacy

''Spycat'' was included on the ''Play It Again Sam 9'' compilation in 1989 and was reissued as part of the Superior /

Blue Ribbon The blue ribbon is a symbol of high quality. The association comes from The Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from Cordon Bleu, which referred to the blue ribbon ...

budget range in 1990.

References

{{Superior Software 1988 video games Action-adventure games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron-only games Single-player video games Spy video games Superior Software games Video games about cats Video games developed in the United Kingdom Acornsoft games Blue Ribbon (software house) games