German developer Crytek, probably best known for its astounding visual work on an otherwise dull FPS called Crysis, is fishing for an iPad and iPhone developer with knowledge of Android development, according to a job posting on Develop Jobs.

The posting doesn’t give much away in terms of what this could be for. The closest thing to game-related that I can find is this little sentence: “Designs and develops complex, integrated iPhone / iPad applications.” And, yeah, I’m reaching here.

I’m guessing three things about this posting: (a) this job is for an app that’ll be used as a supplemental or a marketing tool for Crysis 2, which is slated to hit the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 later this year OR (b) this is for a brand new game that might use CryENGINE 3, Crytek’s engine that’s being used in multiple upcoming console and PC games this generation OR (c) this is an R&D thing.

Say if this is actually a brand new game using that engine, there’s a good possibility it could be used as a tech demo of sorts. Crytek wants to license out its engine and, I’d imagine as a business, wouldn’t mind getting it into App Store developers’ hands. But this is just speculation -- I could be horribly, terribly wrong, so keep your pants on graphics-philes. For all of our sakes. Thanks in advance!

We fell in love with World of Goo the first time we loaded it up on our iPads. We incessantly gushed over the game in our review which eventually lead to naming World of Goo our 2010 iPad game of the year. If you haven't heard of the game, we explain the basic premise in our review:

At first, World of Goo is about manufacturing bridges and towers with the stretched tissue of little balls of goo. The point is to provide a path that other goo balls can follow into a metal pipe, the end point. Physics play a key role in this process: you'll need to build sound structures, which sounds easier than it is. Goo isn't concrete.

Each level requires a set number of goo balls to reach the pipe, and each goo ball you use for a structure counts against the total provided. This constant negotiation of goo resources is pleasing because it forces you to think around the obvious solution, which is often one of brute building.

World of Goo is an absolutely fantastic game, and was worth every penny of its original $9.99 price point. At its temporary sale price of $4.99, this is a no-brainer and without a doubt a must-have game for anyone with an iPad. If you need additional convincing, stop by the thread in our forums.

One of my favorite things about the App Store is how a tiny gem of a game can seemingly pop up out of nowhere and blow me away with how fun, unique, and inexpensive it is. Such is the case with Pocket HalfPipe [99¢], the first iOS game from developer NaffRobot. Pocket HalfPipe is exactly what the name implies - a halfpipe skateboarding game featuring really intuitive controls, stylish graphics, and a decent amount of content that fits snugly in your pocket. There's a neat level of customization that makes it feel personalized, and even though the game is a bit basic overall the fun factor is through the roof.

Pocket HalfPipe features a single outdoor ramp for you to skate on. You'll start by naming your skater (male only, sorry ladies) and then choose from a selection of skin, hair, board, and clothing options to deck out your dude how you see fit. There aren't very many customization options to begin with, but as you play a number of new items become available. You can also click on a boombox that lets you play music from your iPod library during the game. There isn't any regular in-game music, but there's something very nice about listening to just the sounds of your board as you skate if you don't feel like playing your own music.

Once you're satisfied with the look of your skater, a very nice tutorial introduces you to the slick control system in the game. It's essentially a dual-stick setup, with the left stick controlling speed and flip tricks and the right stick controlling grabs. If you're old like me, you may have been a fan of Skate or Die 2 on the NES and gameplay here feels very similar to skating the halfpipe in that game. Just as in real skateboarding, you gain speed by pumping the transitions, or in gaming terms holding down the left stick and lifting it up on the parts of the ramp that curve from flat to vertical. There's a nice rhythm to how this works and after a bit of practice you won't have any trouble gaining speed and launching into the air.

Once airborne, you will press the right stick and push it in different directions to perform different grab tricks. Letting off the stick takes your hand off your board so you can land safely back in the ramp. Similarly, flip tricks are performed by pressing the left stick and flicking in a direction, not totally unlike another awesome iOS skating game Stick Skater [99¢/Lite]. The board will begin flipping after you've lifted your thumb up from the flick, and pressing down on the left stick again stops the flipping and brings the board back to your feet so you can land back in the ramp. If you don't release your grab or stop your flip by the time you land back in the ramp, then you will bail in a comical and painful looking fashion.

The other aspect to skating is spinning in the air, and this is something that doesn't quite control as well as the rest of the game. Spinning is handled by tilting the device, and your position is smartly calibrated before you drop into the ramp for each run. What makes spinning awkward is that you have to actually tilt the device before launching into the air, while you're still on the ramp. This sort of preplanning for rotations doesn't flow that well with the rest of the game. With practice, you get used to it and it's not much of a problem, but it doesn't always feel consistent and some alternate method might be nice.

Just skating in Pocket HalfPipe is a real joy, but there are also some nice modes to utilize your skills in. There's a Free mode where you can just skate for fun without any time constraints or obligations. Then there's Countdown mode, my personal favorite, where you try to earn the highest score by busting as many tricks as you can in 30 seconds. Survival mode gives you just 15 seconds on the clock, but landing tricks adds additional time and instead of scoring points you try to see how long you can keep playing before the timer runs out. Finally, there's a Big Air mode where you must simply try to launch as high as possible in the given time.

As you play through these different modes and achieve certain scoring goals, you'll unlock a bunch of new things like additional clothing items, skateboards (including the wonderful Enviroboard 2000), skill improvements, and many new tricks. It won't take long to unlock them all, but it's fun while it lasts. The pure skating element in Pocket HalfPipe is so good though that even once everything is unlocked you'll still find yourself playing just for kicks, or to compete for better scores on the Game Center leaderboards. The graphics are simplistic but stylish, and look sharp on the Retina Display. There's only one backdrop to skate in which isn't a big deal but additional environments would be welcome.

Honestly, any negatives I can think of about Pocket HalfPipe are quickly forgotten once you get your thumbs on the board. It's just so much fun. Some additional variety in the form of tricks, clothing, or environments couldn't hurt, but what's here already is still really solid. Players in our forums have been raving about Pocket HalfPipe, and whether you're into skateboarding or just naturally enjoyable gameplay it's definitely one you want to check out.

Well, it's that time again. Dedicated readers of TouchArcade should know that we have a penchant for posting about silly or absurd games every now and then. They aren't always the greatest games known to Man, but with the App Store economy being the way it is sometimes spending a dollar or two on a game that will give you some laughs is totally worth it. The latest example of this is Rainbow Pony [99¢]. I could almost stop right there, as anything called Rainbow Pony must be worth at least a dollar. But for the sake of thoroughness, I'll go ahead and explain the delicate inner workings of the game.

Rainbow Pony plays a bit like Solipskier [99¢] in that you must guide your majestic steed along a wave of rainbow that you direct with your finger. Along his (her?) magical journey, the Rainbow Pony will collect various items spread throughout the game. Each arrow icon you collect will increase your speed, and each bomb you hit will slow you down. You can also collect delicious candy and teddy bears, though these seem to serve no purpose other than to increase your own personal happiness a tiny bit.

The game is played over 3 modes – Normal mode has you racing for a finish line in as little time as possible, Survival sees how far you can make it before hitting a bomb and instantly dying, and Timed mode sees how great of a distance you can achieve in a set amount of time. All of these modes contain their own individual high score leaderboards in OpenFeint, so you can compare scores with your many friends who will undoubtedly want to pick up Rainbow Pony once they see you playing it.

Visually, Rainbow Pony is pretty nice. It employs an 8-bit graphical style and retro-chiptune soundtrack, complete with grating, high-pitched coin collecting chimes. The game is really bright and colorful, though my one gripe here is that the Rainbow Pony looks a lot like a llama piñata to me. When I first saw the screenshots, I was almost certain this was some sort of retro 2D demake of Viva Piñata. Honestly, there's almost nothing better than watching the Rainbow Pony frantically galloping along, staring at you with a blank look on its face. It just makes me smile every time.

So in the end, Rainbow Pony is a pretty clever idea that is only executed marginally well. The controls and fluidity of the game are a far cry from the nearly flawless feel of Solipskier, though they do work well enough to enjoy the game. The biggest problem to me is the lack of spacing with obstacles in the game. There's no real warning of what's coming, and things can speed up so quickly that you can't avoid hitting bombs over and over again. I found myself having more fun trying not to hit the speed icons and just collect the yummy candy at a leisurely pace.

Still, the gameplay is fun enough to have a go at once in a while and for a dollar you can have a Rainbow Pony in your pocket, which is a statement I'm proud to be able to say in my lifetime.

So, about that MaXplosion [$.99] thing -- you know, that story about Twisted Pixel Games not digging MaXplosion because of how much it boosted from Twisted Pixel's Xbox Live Arcade title Splosion Man? That thing. Capcom issued its official response this afternoon stating that, yes, it did see Splosion Man before it came out but, no, that team and Capcom Mobile never talked about Splosion Man. MaXplosion, in other words, isn't what happens when you pitch your title to the publisher. In fact, Capcom is “saddened by this situation” and wants to earn back your trust, as a fan, in the company.

It also wants to rebuild developers' trust. This is an angle we didn't take in our last news story because, well, most of you aren't game developers. You see, this MaXplosion debacle makes Capcom look like Dr. Wily in the eyes of indie developers. Would you want to pitch a game to Capcom after seeing what happened here? Nah, man, you wouldn't. Well, maybe you would. Eating makes your tummy feel good.

Anyway, here’s the full response:

“While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing Splosion Man on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel. MaXplosion was developed independently by Capcom Mobile. Nonetheless, we are saddened by this situation and hope to rebuild the trust of our fans and friends in the gaming community.”

Late last month we took a look at Rappin Granny [Free] by Nathan Hunley, who just so happens to be half of Igloo Games. If that doesn't ring a bell, they were responsible for some ancient App Store classics like Dizzy Bee [99¢] and Bed Bugs [99¢]. Both of these games might seem a little dated today, but when they were originally released they were very substantial games. In fact, I distinctly remember being fairly impressed that my phone was capable of playing a game like Dizzy Bee.

Anyway, back when the game was first released I explained the premise of Rappin Granny in our review:

A rappin' granny struts down a hallway dishing out presents which you have to give to the correct recipient. In order to figure out who to give which present to, you have to listen to the rap which is filled with clues. These clues initially start out very simple, but get tricky later in the rap as you're forced to determine who someone's wife is, for instance.

The entire game is wrapped around a scoring system that awards more if you're able to deliver the presents to the beat. Also, you can score bonus points by flicking presents to their recipient instead of dragging them to their hands. The granny's rap is funny, the gameplay is silly, and the music of the game has a real PaRappa The Rapper feel to it.

Our major concern with the game was its complete lack of replay value once you memorized the rap, and the fact that it's a holiday themed game which doesn't give it much of a purpose outside of the holiday season. However, Rappin Granny is still a very cool concept for a game that you really should download while it's free. It likely won't stay on your device very long, but it will be fun while it lasts. I really hope Nathan Hunley evolves this concept further, as Rappin Granny really feels like the start of something that could be really rad.

In October of last year we first caught wind of Martin Kool's loving homage to retro adventure games, Sarien.net. Nearly a month later, we got a hands on preview of Space Quest, the first game Martin ported from its previous web-based browser state to an iPad-specific version that was custom tailored for both the screen and input of the device. Not long after that, Space Quest went live. While I'm not entirely sure how many people played the web-based version of the game to completion, it sure was awesome to have, and was a great tech demo for just what was possible via a web app on the iPad.

Today we got word that the rest of the Sarien.net catalog has been ported over, and in addition to iPhone support, the whole site is now hosted via Amazon's content distribution network to make loading even faster. Most of the games have even been extensively tweaked to be easy to play on the touch interface.

I'm not sure how much more detailed I need to get on this because, well, all the games are completely free to play and don't require any kind of installation beyond navigating your iOS device to sarien.net, tapping the game you want to play, adding a bookmark icon for it, then launching it. The single down side (if you'd even call it that) to all this is that since the games are played online via a web browser, you need an internet connection, but that seems to be a decent tradeoff to being able to instantly play such fantastic vintage adventure games for free on your iPhone or iPad.

A few weeks back we reviewed Burn the Rope [99¢], the puzzle game with the sort of familiar sounding name but really unique gameplay. In Burn the Rope, you ignite a single point of an elaborate picture made out of rope with the goal of burning as much of it as possible. The catch is that the flame will only burn upwards, so you must twist your device around as the flame burns along the contours of whatever picture you are burning. It's a clever game and quite a lot of fun too.

Yesterday developer Big Blue Bubble released the first update to Burn the Rope. One of our biggest gripes with the game in our review was the inconsistent way the flame would burn around sharp corners in a picture. Even if you swear you burned around the corner properly, the game had a tendency to leave just the tiniest bit of rope unburned, thus preventing you from getting 100% completion and a gold medal on the level. It was frustrating to say the least, but this issue seems to have been completely squashed as I have yet to encounter it since updating. Also, it appears that you no longer need a complete 100% to earn gold, so even if you do leave a tiny portion of rope unburnt then you can still manage to get a gold medal.

Besides this much needed fix, the new update also contains a new area with 16 brand new levels to play through. Game Center is now integrated with online leaderboards for each area and 30 achievements to obtain. The ability to play music from your iPod library has been added, as well as your choice of 3 additional flames to pick from which are unlocked by doing things like rating the game in iTunes or “liking” its Facebook page. The flames are cosmetic only, but I actually really like being able to mix up which one I use. My personal favorite is the one that sparks like the fuse on a stick of dynamite.

Burn the Rope was pretty awesome initially, and this new update has fixed most of my issues with the game as well as added a lot of new content. My only request now would be for Retina Display graphics, and the developer has said in our forums that this feature should be coming sometime down the line. A lot of other folks seem to be enjoying Burn the Rope too, as since our initial review the game has skyrocketed into the #2 position overall in the US App Store. If you have yet to check out Burn the Rope, now is a great time to grab it as the game is currently 99¢ but should be jumping up to $1.99 with the next update.

This news flew under our radar for a few days, but on Monday Chaotic Box released a substantial update to their fast-paced iOS game Silverfish [99¢]. Silverfish is a retro-styled arcade game where the goal is not to destroy the many enemies racing about the screen but rather to avoid them altogether. There were three different modes in the release version of Silverfish that played on this main mechanic.

This latest update adds, among other things, a fourth mode to the game called Haste mode. Our favorite of the original 3 modes was Reaper mode, and Chaotic Box colorfully describes the new Haste mode as “Reaper mode cranked to 11”. Here's an excerpt of Reaper mode from our review of Silverfish followed by the video showcasing the new Haste mode:

Finally, there's Reaper mode (my personal favorite). In this mode, you are given one life, three Time Shocks and 50% power to start. Collect red Power Pods to kill the baddies on your tail and add to your health, and when your power meter maxes out, you become invulnerable for a short period, allowing you to plow through your enemies, leaving a wake of destruction.

Haste mode also includes a new Parasite and enemies, a new powerup called Vigor, and 6 more Game Center achievements. Besides the big new addition of Haste mode, there are a few other aspects to this latest update. The game is now compatible with fast-app switching, it will automatically save and restore your game in progress, and there are new customization options for the d-pad controls. Also an assortment of bug fixes and optimization rounds out this update.

If you haven't picked up Silverfish yet it's currently on sale for just 99¢. Players in our forums have been enjoying this one a lot since release, and it's definitely recommended if you like manic arcade-style gameplay.

Yesterday, we posted about an issue that had recently gained quite a bit of attention in the App Store world. On Monday, developer Robots Vs. Wizards started a topic in our forums announcing that they had received word from Apple that they would need to change the name of their game Doodle Monster, at the insistence of Doodle Jump creators LimaSky, as it could potentially infringe on a trademark held by them. Assuming that they were in the wrong, Robots Vs. Wizards was ready to change the name of their game so as not to see it pulled off the App Store.

Other developers started chiming into the thread, however, and stated that they had received similar warnings about their own “Doodle” games. Bryan Duke of Acceleroto detailed some additional information pertaining to his own personal situation dealing with the term “Doodle” and how it pertained to LimaSky.

Since Monday this story has quickly created quite a stir on the internet, with a groundswell of support for the independent App Store developers and a whole heaping load of ire towards LimaSky. This was a bit unfair, though not totally unprecedented for the internet, as LimaSky had yet to even comment with their side of the story, and in just a couple of days the lynch mob mentality was in full swing. Last night, Igor Pusenjak of LimaSky released an official statement about the whole debacle over at PocketGamer.biz.

First, and foremost, Pusenjak reports that he has instructed his lawyer to withdraw the complaint notices from Apple. He claims the reason behind the infringement notices were, in fact, defensive.

That notice was sent out largely to protect our Doodle Jump trademark from threats of being canceled by Bryan Duke's big-house law firm. One of their arguments for threatening to cancel our registered Doodle Jump trademark was that we did not prevent other games from using the word 'Doodle'.

Pusenjak further says that they didn't intend to have those games removed from the App Store, but to specifically address potential infringements rather than removal of the games, themselves.

And we have made this clear to every developer who has contacted us -- you don't need to take your game down, but you need to change the infringing elements.

Pusenjak also points out that Bryan Duke was the first to file for the "Doodle" trademark, and that Lima Sky's own "Doodle" registration was to avoid having the trademark used against them. So, it seems some of the legal escalation that occurred was due to misunderstandings and/or mistrust between the two parties. Duke admitted to filing for the "Doodle" trademark first, but he claims it to have been defensive as well:

Just like my lawyer told me, there was no way anyone (except for possibly the very original "Doodle" game) could possibly get awarded the trademark for the word doodle. My lawyer told me the only way to have proof of that was to file for a trademark for the word doodle. To get that proof and the protection from potential opposition from Lima Sky, I did that.

Lima Sky's full statement can be read on PocketGamer.biz. While the merits of each side are still being discussed in our forums, it seems there has been a surprisingly swift and amicable conclusion to this ordeal.

After watching this video, you will know just as much as we do regarding Gameloft's latest title. It is a cool video though, so if you've got 44 seconds to spare, be sure to mash the play button below:

Some educated guesses we can make on this: There's no doubt that Gameloft's schtick is cloning games, this clearly is a fantasy-based game, but without any real gameplay shown it's hard to say what type of fantasy-based game this will be. It looks like a third person action oriented RPG judging by what we can see, and I'm thinking the App Store badly needs something similar to a Zelda game. People on our forums agree.

I'm not going to lie, I'd totally play Gameloft's take on Zelda like nobody's business. We're going to be following this one closely.

It’s not unusual to see a mechanic from a popular game used in a newer game from a different studio. Games inform each other. This is how the medium evolves and how we get better games. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to see a game on the App Store -- or even on the PC or consoles -- that takes way too much from another, much more popular or influential game. But what makes this case of App Store wholesale "borrowing" special are the parties involved, the extent of the copycatting, and the role reversal. For those of you playing at home, this is a story about an indie and a big developer, and it's the big developer slotted into the role of villian.

Earlier this month, Capcom Mobile released a title called MaXplosion [$.99] on the App Store, a game that bears several striking similarities to indie developer Twisted Pixel’s Splosion Man, an original Xbox Live Arcade title released in 2009. From level design, to title, to mechanics, to even character design, MaXplosion appears to take a lot -- too much for Twisted Pixel to be cool or comfortable with it.

MaXplosion

Splosion Man

“I think we feel more incentive now to make a mobile game than we did before,” Twisted Pixel CEO Michael Wilford told me via e-mail. “We don't have anything specific to announce just yet, but I think it's safe to say that we're going to do something.”

“We're not really in a position to bring any kind of action against Capcom, nor would we want to since we've got games to make, but what we can do is make a better game than they can. Unfortunately for Capcom, it seems that most gamers are savvy enough to know when shit's being ripped off. “

One important note to make here is this little wrinkle: Twisted Pixel pitched Splosion Man to Capcom US before its eventual release on XBLA. Capcom passed on it and then years later we get MaXplosion.

Like Wilford told me, Twisted Pixel isn’t going to pursue legal action here because (a) it’s too small to fight the man and (b) yo, Mega Man was pretty damn good. "We're definitely not going to pursue legal action," Wilford re-iterated to Joystiq. "While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating, we're too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide." Instead, Twisted Pixel would like to fire back with it's own iOS release, which is a radical response to the matter, I think.

Capcom Mobile is apparently crafting a statement that might be released as early as later today, according to that Joystiq post. We’ve contacted the studio as well and do hope to hear back about all of this... borrowing going on.

Friend of TouchArcade and IGN Wireless writer Levi Buchanan recently published an awesome interview with Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot. Chances are that you’ve already seen a couple of the quotes floating around on the Internet, as they're irresistible to bloggers. Guillemot, surprisingly, doesn’t address topics of conversation with the usual stoneface, marketing-conjured replies we’ve become accustomed to when listening to corporate types.

Here are some notables from the convo and I think you'll get what I mean as you pour through:

• On the subject of Gameloft ripping off games on other platforms and then spitting out its own version on the App Store, Guillemot said, “The video game industry has always played around a limited number of themes. There is maybe one new idea a year.” He also re-iterated that Gameloft simply recreates games that handheld gamers simply would never see without the developer.

• On the subject of the recent rash 99 cent sales and specifically EA’s house-clearing one that drove tons of its apps to the top of the charts, Guillemot argued that the move was damaging. "There is a high uncertainty for the future anytime somebody can steal the market at Christmas," he said, adding that sales similar to EA’s hurts indies and activates that “race to the bottom” we hear so much about.

• And on the subject of distribution, Guillemot talked briefly about Gameloft’s plans to put their apps on TVs. "Playing on a TV without a box is weird today, not in ten years,” he said. Gameloft is in a unique position to actually put its games on whatever, and it's certainly clawing to do that.

Check out the full interview for your needed dose of context -- it’s pretty important, especially in regards to the Gameloft copycatting issue that always seems to raise the collective gamer choler. You’re not angry right now, right? Please calm down!

[via IGN Wireless]

We've been following this confusing development for a few days now which originally started on our forums where an increasing number of developers are receiving notice that they're violating Lima Sky's trademark on the word "Doodle" by having various titles on the App Store with "Doodle" in their names. Lima Sky is responsible for the wildly popular jumping game Doodle Jump [99¢], and its success also likely spurred the (now incredibly cliche) barrage of similarly styled doodle games. Bryan Duke of Acceleroto posted a fantastic synopsis from a developer's perspective of what has been happening.

In a nutshell, Lima Sky has just barely enough legal ammo to lean on Apple to get similar games removed. From there, Apple sends out a letter to the developer of the game in question, and they have five days to respond or else their game gets yanked off the App Store. 148 Apps recently confirmed Lima Sky's intentions by receiving a form response back from their legal team explaining that they are in fact claiming a trademark on the word "doodle" and are looking to have any games with "doodle" in the title changed (or removed, from the looks of it).

Where things get interesting is that while Doodle Jump is a ton of fun, calling it an "original" game couldn't be more of a stretch. Its gameplay is based on PapiJump [Free], and developers have been releasing video games with a hand-drawn styled "doodle" art for years before Doodle Jump. It wasn't the first game with "doodle" in its title either, as Adrian Cummings of Mobile Amusements pointed out on our forums, they originally released Doodle Bug in 1992, and plan on bringing it to the App Store.

We're as tired of "doodle" games as everyone else, but any way you slice it this is a very depressing move from Lima Sky. We had Igor of Lima Sky on our podcast, and frankly, his tale of how his company began with him and his brothers making video games for fun was incredibly heartwarming. Having them turn on fellow indie developers a year later exercising trademarks which seem shaky at best is incredibly disappointing.

For more information on all this legal drama, and to follow along with developers under the legal hammer of Lima Sky as they deal with it on their end, stop by the thread on our forums.

Update: Lima Sky responds and withdraws the their legal complaints.

The new game GeoSpin [99¢] from Lazrhog Games takes its name quite literally. It's a fast-paced puzzle game where you must spin a geometric 3D shape while matching each of the flat panels that comprise the shape from a row that borders the game screen. It's hard to explain on paper, but easy to instantly pick up when playing. Lazrhog has nailed the controls, leaving only your speed and dexterity to determine how well you can perform. Graphics are basic but colorful, and pop on the Retina Display at a rock solid frame rate. GeoSpin is a simple idea executed beautifully, and is one of the more original games as of late and quite a bit of fun to boot.

In GeoSpin there are 11 increasingly complex shapes to tackle. Time Attack mode presents these linearly across 3 difficulty levels - easy, medium, and hard. You are timed on how long it takes you to place each panel into the shape, with a minimum time requirement to unlock the next level and additional time goals for earning bronze, silver, and gold medals for each one. In all, Time Attack has 33 levels to earn medals on. It's a decent challenge to earn golds on easy, but on medium and hard only the most nimble-fingered players will be able to achieve the qualifying times, let alone earn medals.

It's a fun kind of challenge though, one that keeps you coming back over and over to try and earn a better time. The real hook in GeoSpin is its excellent OpenFeint integration. There are leaderboards for every shape in every difficulty category, and it even updates your leaderboard position in real-time on the level select screen so you always know where you stand. I've found myself frantically retrying levels just to inch ahead of someone on my friend list, strictly for bragging rights, and it's a very satisfying feeling when I finally do surpass someone or place high globally.

The other half of GeoSpin is the Score Attack mode. Here you'll tackle each shape one after the other with a set countdown timer for each one. Your score is cumulative and based on how much time is left after completing each shape. There are time bonuses you can earn too, like matching certain shapes or colors in a row. The bonus requirements are displayed before each level and add tremendously to your score, and are practically required in the later levels in order to earn enough time to complete some of the more complex shapes. If you fail to solve a shape in the given time, the game ends. Score Attack is like GeoSpin's survival mode, and is a really fun diversion from the regular game.

I like GeoSpin because it just feels like an iPhone game, very well-suited to the platform. Spinning the shape feels perfect by default (but you can adjust the sensitivity if you choose) and dragging the shapes from the outer row is simple and painless. The UI and controls stay out of your way so you can just enjoy playing, though my biggest complaint is that the game doesn't currently support fast-app switching which can be annoying. The OpenFeint integration ensures a lot of replay value chasing high scores, and even if you're not into that sort of thing it will take a long time to earn gold medals throughout the game.

It may not blow you away with high end visuals, and the core gameplay is pretty simple and won't appeal to everybody, but GeoSpin is a catchy and original game that is executed very well. I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the title, and players in our forums have been enjoying it as well. If you're looking for something fun and unique, definitely give GeoSpin a try.