The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.

These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.

Without further ado…

Witcheye

I’ve been “eyeing" the newly released Witcheye ($2.99) from developer Peter Malamud Smith and publisher Devolver Digital ever since we first posted about it way back in December of 2017. It’s a game about a flying eyeball, and it featured some of the nicest pixel art and smoothest animations I’ve seen. Now going on almost two years since first learning about it, Witcheye is finally available to the masses, and it’s even better than I hoped it would be.

I’m a platforming game nut, but I also love when a developer plays around with the traditional run and jump mechanics of the genre. Witcheye does this by having you control a flying eyeball by swiping in any direction to move, and tapping to stop. You can bounce off of the environment as long as there’s nothing hazardous in your way like a bunch of pokey spikes, and you can slam yourself into enemies to take them out, again provided there’s nothing on said enemy that could hurt you.

It couldn’t be any more simple of an idea, but it somehow provides a totally unique platforming experience. Enemies in particular are designed in such a way that you need to learn their attacks and defenses to know when and where is a good place to give them a bop to dispatch them. It takes a bit of practice to get comfortable with how your eyeball controls, but once you do you feel like an airborne ocular ballerina, dashing to and fro on a dime and taking out enemies with the precision of a sniper.

The fantastic visuals that initially pulled me in all that time ago also go a long ways towards the enjoyment of Witcheye. There’s a cute story tying everything together, more than 50 well-designed levels to play through, and tons of collectibles to keep you busy. Plus there are unlockable modes including features that are built for speedrunners, so simply beating the game isn’t where the fun has to end. Best of all is that Witcheye is a paid game with no IAP and no shenanigans, just good old-fashioned fun. I never thought I’d have such a good time bouncing around as an eyeball, but Witcheye has shown me the light, and it’s a fantastic pickup for anyone who enjoys a well-made experience with unique touchscreen mechanics.