Circus Attractions

Circus Attractions is one of the many multi-event games that flourished on home computers at the end of the 1980s, published in 1989 by the German outfit Rainbow Arts. The genre template was well established by then: rather than telling a story, the game strings together a series of short, skill-based mini-events, in this case all built around the theme of the big top. It fits squarely into the arcade-plus-sports mould that Rainbow Arts and its contemporaries mined heavily during that period.

As a circus package, the appeal was in swapping between distinct little challenges, each demanding its own timing and reflexes, ideally with friends taking turns to beat one another's scores. That hot-seat, take-turns structure was the social heart of these compilations before online play existed. Today Circus Attractions is very much a curio: pleasant enough for a short spin and a nice snapshot of late-80s PC and Amiga-era design, but without the depth to hold a modern player for long. It is best appreciated as a period piece rather than a lost classic.