Kostya Stankevych, who has previously developed some excellent games like Fish Fist (Free), Kubiko (Free), and Blueprint 3D ($0.99), is launching a new game next week called Blade Sliders. Why Blade Sliders? Well, it’s an arena-style brawler where your character is equipped with a blade, and tapping on the screen causes him to attack by sliding right through whatever enemies are in the way. This isn’t a new concept itself, but the interesting wrinkle here is that you’ll only attack in the direction of an arrow which is constantly rotating around your character, so timing is everything in Blade Sliders. Check out the trailer.

I love games like this, but usually you’re free to roam and attack in the direction you choose or at the very least cause your character to attack wherever you tap your finger. Adding the rotating arrow to the mix in Blade Sliders is actually more restrictive than similar games, but I think it adds a neat element of strategy to what can normally be mindless hacking and slashing. Not that there’s anything wrong with mindless hacking and slashing, mind you, but I’m always onboard for something a bit different, and Blade Sliders certainly appears to be different. It’s launching next Thursday, October 20th and if you want to talk about it ahead of launch (and maybe snag an early promo code) then check out the forum thread.