One of the frustrating things about some modern games is the sheer number of buttons you need to remember to get things done. This is especially true of complicated genres such as flight simulators, but shooters and strategy games can be just as bad.

Even if the player can memorise all the button sequences, they still have to take the time to enter them, time in which bad things may be happening to the character on screen. That’s where Logitech’s G13 ‘Gameboard’ comes in. It’s a USB device that is essentially a small keyboard, with 22 keys that can be programmed to do whatever you need.

Each key can perform a single command, a sequence of key-presses, run a script or paste a piece of text onto the screen. There’s also a little joystick so that movement can be controlled using the pad rather than keys on the main keyboard.

The G13’s screen displays the time, computer performance or even your email or a news feed from a website. It’s not just for games, either: the pad could even be handy for users of design programs, who often have to remember long key sequences.

And it’s not limited to 22 buttons – each key can be programmed with three functions, switched using buttons at the top, although that introduces a new complication of remembering what each key on the G13 does.

Some gamers may regard setting up key sequences on such a device as cheating because it takes away the human element, but in games such as flight simulators, or in situations where it’s just easier to press one key than a couple, the G13 is useful.