Kachinko brings Pachinko to mobiles

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be more puzzle games appearing to mobiles, along comes another as dependably as the disappointment of a typical Brittish summer. Trust us, this is a trend that is here to stay.

But after a quick look at Kachinko, it seems such a pattern isn't necessarily a bad thing. The game takes what is apparently the Japanese salary man's second favourite leisure activity, (we suspect the first has got to be karaoke) pachinko parlours, and gives it a marble-themed twist, which is presumably where the 'k' in the title comes from.

The game is essentially a match-'em-up where you have to deal with a flood of differently coloured balls and only a limited space in which to catch them, match them up (in threes, of course) and make them disappear.

Okay, so it doesn't exactly sound like a terribly unique puzzler, but fewer and fewer are these days, and although not exactly massive in the west, going with a pachinko theme certainly hasn't been done before (as far as we can remember).

The game promises six different power-ups to aid in combos, which also spontaneously change the rules of play to further keep the experience fresh.

Of slight possible concern is the fact that there are just four different machines to play on (hence four different levels) but from the sounds of things Kachinko is at least making an effort to bring some variation to the tried-and-tested match-'em-up mechanic.

We'll know how successful that proves as soon as we get our hands on a copy for review. Click 'Track It!' to make sure you don't miss it.