Ball-rolling games have been around since the dawn of time, before electricity was even a thing, let alone OLED capacitive touch screens. They have also been an omnipresent force on the App Store from the very beginning, with titles such as Labyrinth 2 ($4.99) demonstrating the gyroscopic capabilities of the iPhone, and the genre has remained steadfast on iOS despite its inherently basic nature. However, this is by no means a slight at these sort of puzzle games – ball-rolling titles have evolved over the years to provide unique and memorable experiences. The Little Ball That Could (Free) marks the latest attempt at perfecting Marble Madness in a modern guise, and is available to download for free (with an in-app purchase to remove ads) on the App Store today.

At first glance, The Little Ball That Could resembles an isometric take on the surprisingly old iOS classic Aerox – with a vibrant, futuristic and ethereal aesthetic design, Little Ball is nothing if not graphically impressive. Five worlds with 120 levels that are labyrinthine in design, featuring numerous paths and obstacles that have to be navigated, give The Little Ball That Could a sense of both discovery and urgency, and a beautiful piano ballad behind the action creates an almost hypnotic charm to the ball-rolling that’s taking place within the game. Anyone averse to tilt controls will also be delighted to hear that touch controls as well as physical controllers are also compatible. While the Companion Cube-esque icon may correctly emphasise the quirky physics puzzler nature of The Little Ball That Could, NaissusWorks have created a game that is not only iterative and moves towards perfecting the formula on the iPhone, but also is its own distinctive experience. Download The Little Ball That Could on the App Store today, and roll down to our forum thread for further discussion.