Isoball

What’s in a name? In Isoball’s case, the answer to that particular question is a rather fortunate 'not a lot.'

While it might sound like a new piece of dishwasher tablet jargon, or an elaborate padded obstacle course for the new season of Gladiators, Zattika’s Isoball is a lot more than that.

The goal here is to guide your fragile ball from its starting point in a recess of each isometric level to the exit hole. This is no tilty-handset rolling ball game, though, regardless of how it looks.

Rather, you must build a causeway for your ball from a limited range of bricks, ramps, bridges and special blocks. There are gaps to traverse, corners to turn, and heights to descend – all without shattering your ball, which happens at slightest provocation.

The trick is to use your allotment of blocks to form the smoothest path possible. Your ball will quite happily obey the laws of physics and keep going straight ahead when it picks up a bit of speed, so if you want to turn a corner you’ll have to factor in directional conveyor blocks.

The controls are pretty well implemented, although they do have the odd misfire where your block refuses to go where you want it to (costing you a 'Perfect' score into the bargain). Building your course is a simple case of touching and dragging the appropriate piece from a permanent menu at the top of the screen.

Once you enter the playing field with the piece, a separate window pops up to show a clear view of your actions. After an initial feeling of dislocation, it works very well indeed.

That pretty much sums up Isoball’s low-key appeal. It’s not the prettiest game in the world, it’s got a silly name, and the music is of the instantly-forgettable elevator music variety. But the gentle build-your-own-level gameplay works very well at quietly sucking you in.