10th Frame is a ten-pin bowling simulation game published by Access Software in 1986. Up to eight players can take part in open bowling or a tournament. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC compatibles, MSX, and ZX Spectrum.

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Quick Facts 10th Frame, Developer(s) ...

10th Frame
Developer(s)	Access Software
Publisher(s)	U.S. Gold
Platform(s)	Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum
Release	NA: 1986
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player

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The lane is viewed from behind the bowler, with the pins towards the top of the screen in a 3D perspective.^[1]

The scorecard for the current player is displayed above the lane. The player can move left or right on the lane before starting the run-up by holding fire. A target cursor can be moved by pushing up and then moving it left or right (pressing down returned control to moving the onscreen player's position).^[1]

Once the fire button is held, a power meter similar to Leader Board's is used. The speed of the shot is determined by how long the button is held down. A small zone at the top determines if the player makes an error, exaggerating any spin.^[1]

When the meter starts to descend on the right, it is stopped in the hook zone to determine how much hook/spin is applied—from straight at the top of the zone to full hook at the bottom. Play is completed after the usual ten frames and any bonus balls.^[1]

Players can print out a scorecard at the end of a match.

There is a choice of three difficulty levels: Kids (in which the ball always goes straight), Amateur, and Professional.

Computer and Video Games reviewed the Commodore 64 version in issue 65 and called it a Game of the Month with a 9/10 score. Zzap!64 awarded the game 85% in issue 22, calling it "another slick and extremely well programmed Access sport simulation".^[1] Your Sinclair gave the ZX Spectrum conversion 7 out of 10, stating that "10th Frame requires a lot of skill and is a pretty good simulation".^[3]

Rick Teverbaugh reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "Tenth Frame is on my top 10 sports games list of all-time and I think it will be on yours also."^[4]