Alphabetic

After years of derision in the mainstream press, last year's papers finally ran some positive stories about good ol' gaming. Apparently, us gamers have quicker reaction times than most other folk, meaning we're a dab hand at a paintball or the quick-fire round at your local pub quiz. You can actually learn through play.

Not convinced? Luckily, Alphabetic is the perfect tool for tracking your reaction time. Relying solely on your ability to spot a target as quickly as you can, the game has you tapping letters of the alphabet.

In the game's main mode, your job is to find each letter in alphabetical order, one by one. As, Bs and Cs are fairly easy to spot (in fact, on first play, A is in fact the only letter on the screen), but as each letter passes, so the challenge builds.

Not only do you have to pick each letter out in order while it's surrounded by its brethren, but you also have to spot it as it dashes across the screen.

If beauty can be found on iPhone, then Alphabetic's take on colour and form, with letters flying around the screen with such grace, comes pretty close to serving as the ultimate example.

Of course, merely looking good isn't its main aim and Alphabetic has a number of rather inventive tricks that make what should be the simplest task actually rather stupefying.

In some levels, letters will fall from the sky, bouncing up and down at the bottom of the screen, teasing you as they pass. In others, they simply spin around the screen at pace, tightly knitted and in no particular order.

Even though all you're required to do is touch the letter in question, managing to time your tap with its movement - assuming you can find it in the first place - is a task that requires a lot more concentration than you might think.

You might even find yourself questioning your own sanity at points, as the order of the alphabet falls flat out of your head. That's hardly surprising, however, considering the entire game runs with seconds counting down in the corner, with only the shortest of time bonuses added for each successful tap.

The pressure feels immense and it only intensifies once you've unlocked the Challenge mode. The add-ons included are something of a misnomer because they're more like full games with added hurdles designed to push your play time.

Whether it's less time on the clock, or having to run through the alphabet backwards, each variation takes the same formula and spins it a little differently for new challenges.

There's also a Number mode, which is more a case of surviving, getting as high up as you can before time runs out. In this case, double figures really are double figures; 12, for instance, requires you to tap '1' and then '2' separately, rather than the whole number at once.

It's just the kind of extra impetus that gives play yet another twist, turning what could easily have been a one-off wonder into a title that plays the long-game.

Practice makes perfect, and it's the polish and sheer prettiness of Alphabetic that make it the kind of game you desperately want to get better at.

This is the definition of learning through play. Looks like the papers were right, after all.