You play the role of Bono, an amiable dragon who lives in a castle by the sea. As a shrewd business-dragon, keen on "nice little earners", you make your living by selling soap to the giant monsters who bathe in the sea surrounding the castle. The monsters are so large that they need plenty of soap, and in order to keep their business you must supply them regularly.

Your castle is the headquarters of "Bono's Bathing Company". Inside the castle are 22 increasigly hazardous chambers where you and your business partner, Fozzy, produce soap by an age-old recipe: collecting skeletons and boiling them in a cauldron. Five skeletons are needed to make one bar of soap. Once you have collected five skeletons, simply move to a cauldron and touch it.

Before you move into the next chamber, you must produce five bars of soap; you must also deliver each bar in turn to the bathing monsters by climbing up the staircases which exit from the castle chambers. However, your employment is hampered by the deadly creatures that inhabit the chambers and you will also encounter many obstacles in your path.

There are three types of deadly creature that reside within the castle.

If a monster catches you, it will kill you immediately. There are three ways to deal with monsters:-

1. Trap them in by using a glook. If a monster is unable to move it will die and you can then collect its skeleton.
2. If you only need to pass by a monster, your friend Fozzy can assist. He is capable of holding the monster so that you can pass unharmed. Fozzy will hold a monster only if he is directly in between you and the monster.
3. Lure the monster into a trapdoor. However, the monster will then disappear without trace - you will be unable to take its skeleton.

Spiders love to eat skeletons. Spiders always follow the left-hand edge of the chamber, unless they become stunned. They cannot be killed themselves but their vemonous bite is fatal to you. Fozzy, incidentally, is invulnerable to their poison.

Glooks are unusual creatures who are attracted to the smell of the soap being used by the bathing monsters; they always move towards this aroma. The direction in which the glooks move is determined by the current aroma direction, which changes each time a bar of soap is delivered up the stairs. The direction you enter the stairs will be the direction of their next aromatic inclinations. You can push glooks out of your way.

As you journey through the chambers you will come across a number of doors. To open each door you will need to use a key.

In each chamber there is a hidden volcano full of glooks. The volcano is "uncovered" by treading on a certain part of the ground and an active volcano may spell disaster for your business enterprise. If you become trapped, you have the option to commit suicide - thereby losing one of your lives.

Trapdoors, if used correctly, can swallow up pesky monsters, but watch your own step too!

In some parts of the chambers, you will see monsters trapped in by the surrounding earth. You should usually aim at ensnaring these monsters by removing some of the earth and trapping them in by using a glook.

The maximum number of skeletons, soap and keys you can carry is nine of each.

Your friend Fozzy is a useful guy to have around, although he is rather dim. He usually keeps to the right-hand edge of the chamber, unless he becomes dazed. If he does, give him a push and you will soon bring him round. He is strong enough to be able to hold monsters whilst you pass by, and he can also protect you from the spiders. Fozzy has a limited amount of energy and he will die if it runs out. This will occur if he is trapped. Fozzy has three lives.

On completing a chamber, a password will be shown on the screen. Use this password in future if you want to skip previous chambers and start the game at the chamber of your choice.

At the bottom of the game screen, you will see the status section - where your progress is monitored. The indicators from left to right show : Lives remaining, Fozzy status and lives remaining, Skeletons being carried, Keys being carried, Volcano activity, Aroma Direction and Counter, Score, Chamber Level, Soaps carried and Soaps required.

Fozzy's Status Indicator will also change when Fozzy is dead, trapped, holding a monster or active.

Z ............................................................ Move Left
X ........................................................... Move Right
* .............................................................. Move Up
? ............................................................ Move Down
RETURN .............................................. Action (see below)
P .................................... Enter Password (at start of game)
ESCAPE .................... Kill Yourself (useful if you become trapped)
SHIFT and R ............................................... Restart Game
COPY .......................................................... Pause On
DELETE ....................................................... Pause Off
S ............................................................. Pause On
Q ............................................................ Pause Off

If you press the RETURN and momentarily press the appropriate direction key, Bono can push glooks or dig earth without actually moving from his current position.

If you complete Bonecruncher without using passwords, a special message will be displayed on the screen.

If you write to Superior Software before December 31st 1989, stating this special message and including details of where you purchased the game, we will send you a signed congratulatory certificate and a "Bono's Bathing Co." badge.