Thumb-IT

Mankind has much to be proud of as he reclines on his throne as King of the World. Man has developed language and numeracy, written wonderful works of fiction and composed inspirational symphonies. Yet one thing more than any other sets man apart from the animal world – our fully opposable thumbs.

And not just if we're hitchhikers, either.

Given that Man (and Woman) also makes up the mobile games market, it's little wonder that developers continue to flirt with the so-called One Thumb principle of games, where only a gamers' single thumb is required to handle all the control required by the game in a easy to grasp manner.

The idea behind Orange Pixel's Thumb-It, however, is to create a whole new genre by putting the onus on not one, but two thumbs. In this crazy – some would say retrograde – development, both your thumbs join in the action, one on each side of the phone, as if you're text messaging. In Thumb-It, each thumb focusses on two buttons each: the '1' and '4' buttons for the left thumb, and the '3' and '6' for the right.

In play, Thumb-It can perhaps best be described as a hybrid of the dance rhythm games made popular in the arcades and on the home consoles, coupled with a sort of reaction test game inspired by SMS texting.

The game begins with transparent numbers across the middle of the screen that correspond directly with the four number buttons the player has to press, shown below. As the numbers scroll upwards from the bottom of the screen towards the static transparent versions, the player must press the appropriate number as it lines up exactly with the corresponding static number.

It seems easy enough to start with. The numbers rise and you find your way around the button layout, quickly mastering the timing element. However within seconds things start to hot up, as you're suddenly required to display a dexterity more in keeping with text messaging than most mobile games.

One moment you'll be thinking you're doing very well indeed, thank you, when a barrage of ones, threes and sixes timed just behind the last will leave you for dead in nanoseconds. Unless, of course, your hand-eye coordination is exemplary.

Located along the bottom of the screen is an energy meter that decreases with every mistimed reaction. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security.

Presentation-wise, the game is colourful but simplistic, with various cartoon sprites replacing the numbers as you progress offering little in the way of variety. And the music, which at first seems reminiscent of a game show, is actually fairly thoughtful.

The game also offers the opportunity to connect with rumblex.com to upload your high scores, so you can compare them with the world rankings. It's a nice idea.

Orange Pixel should be rightly commended for trying something so abstract and different with Thumb-It, a novel concept that very nearly delivers.

However the frightening difficulty level, which becomes apparently within seconds of playing (and that leaves you initially shocked, and then immediately playing catch-up for a good 20 minutes as you valiantly try to get your skills equal to the game's demands) as well as a lack of genuine progression means this reaction-based game for the SMS generation falls some way short.

Players with serious cheetah-like reflexes may well be able to squeeze more from the game, but the rest of us should probably give Thumb-It the finger.