Task Force Admiral looks seriously bloated when placed alongside this demo-blessed wisp. Based on a UNIX wargame David Riggle coded in his youth, action-packed Midway 1981 takes up less HD space than an uncompressed TFA screenshot yet offers numerous unexpected subtleties.
The full £6 version includes six scenarios covering all the major PTO carrier battles. In the demo, you get to Midway as either the USN or IJN. First pick one of the numerous ‘taskforces’ involved in the battle (even land bases such as Midway Island and the invasion flotillas bound for the Aleutians are playable) then select a vessel within that TF to act as a flagship (these include battleships) and you’re ready to go.
If you’ve chosen to oversee a CV or island airfield, you’ll be able to launch CAPs and scout planes, and organise strikes involving bombers and escorts. Novel features include manually directed flak, and a very elegant turn system (most actions advance the clock by three minutes). The embedded help file does a pretty good job of demystifying controls, but fails to mention that ship movement must be executed with the Shift key pressed.