iPhone and iPod Touch Games Round-up 5

Gravity Sling

Developer: Riptide Games
Price (as reviewed): Free / Free from the AppStore

Gravity Sling is an old and very familiar game, one which immediately conjures memories of the orbit minigame which was built into Microsoft’s old Encarta – and if you know what we’re referring to then you need read no further. Gravity Sling is naught but a score-based revision of that game with some puzzle solving aspects chucked in for good measure.

The aim of each level is only to reunite the astronaut (who either need to go on a diet or who is not to scale) with his spaceship, which is chiefly done by catapulting him around nearby planets and generating a slingshot effect. All items on the screen have a basic mass and gravitational pull, with the planets laid out in such a way as to make them a lot harder than you’d first expect.

The controls are as you’d expect – you simply flick the screen in the direction you want to give the stranded spaceman his initial shove, varying the length of your swipe to control the power of the push.


The levels are where the game falter a little bit though, with some of them being impossibly easy and others requiring an unlikely degree of accuracy when it comes to launching your astronaut. If your aim is off by the slightest margin then you can sometimes get stuck in endless, spiralling orbits or uncontrollable spins.

Still, it’s very pretty regardless of whether you’re successful or stuck and Gravity Sling remains a decent distraction, one made more notable by the pricing model. The initial game is completely free and includes some tutorial and introduction levels, with later map packs being delivered through in-app purchases.

Verdict: Gravity Sling won’t offer you hours of play time, but it’s fun and doesn’t cost a whole lot, which makes it worth checking out if your interest is piqued. JM

Doodle Jump

Developer: Lima Sky
Price (as reviewed) 59p / 99c from the App Store

When you're browsing the App Store and come across a game with the words 'BE WARNED: Insanely Addictive!' in the title, you're all but guaranteed to be on to a winner. Doodle Jump doesn't fail to deliver either. It's one of those impossibly simple concepts that leaves you wondering why you didn't think of it first.

The premise is simple. You must see to it that your doodled little alien-type character jumps his way up as many doodled platforms as possible, forever rising higher and with every inch of height rewarding you with a bigger score. Each time the little guy lands he will jump automatically and controlling his left or right movement is done by tilting the iPhone left or right.

It’s not an easy task though, despite the simplicity. A gaggle of monsters block your path to the heady heights of doodle-jumping stardom and there are coloured platforms which have special properties, such as propelling you upwards or disappearing after a single bounce. The result is a game that's challenging and requires fast thinking and accurate reflexes.

A key ingredient for Doodle Jump's addictive quality is the online leaderboard which can be accessed from the main menu or in-game as you play. As you scale Doodle Jump’s endless heights you’ll jump past named markers showing how high other players have got recently, along with their name.

Doodle Jump is a very streamlined and simple game admittedly, but it has that crucial quality of being something you can pick up and become proficient at in under a minute, which means it’s suitable for filling all sorts of gaps in modern life.

Verdict: Doodle Jump is more fun than scrawling over the living room walls with your Mum's make-up when you were four years old and has to deliver one of the best hour-of-entertainment-per-pound-sterling ratios in the App Store.

Got an iPhone or iPod Touch game you want to recommend? Let us know in the forums. Alternatively you can check out our previous iPhone and iPod Touch Games Round-Ups (One, Two, Three and Four) for some more of our suggestions! MM