Open Sea!

It's fair to say that there haven't been many portable puzzle games based on the Bible. It's strange in a sense that the most popular piece of literature in the history of the world hasn't been mined for all it's worth by developers.

But, of course, it's the Bible, and people have been known to get a bit upset about it from time to time.

Whichever way you look at it, if you're going to take your inspiration from the good book then you'd best have something pretty special to show at the end of it.

Luckily, developer The Pixelizers has done just that with Open Sea!

You play the part of Mo, a bearded elder and prophet who may or may not bear a passing resemblance to a figure from the Bible, and it's your job to lead your people across the sea, parting the waves to let them through.

Said sea is split into a number of different currents, each of which can be parted by sliding your finger through it. As your followers blunder after you, you need to keep them from sinking beneath the treacherous waves.

Which is easier said than done, especially when some of them are blind drunk, cowardly, ancient, or narcoleptics prone to falling asleep before they get to the safety of the other side. They're beset by violent mummies, magic throwing boats, and angry wizards, as well as the salty walls of damp doom.

The different classes of followers are introduced gradually, and they need coaxing and prodding in different ways to get them across the sea bed. The chief weapon at your disposal is the lightning bolt, which you can unleash by double-tapping on the screen.

The flash of light not only scares your followers into speeding up and heading in the right direction, but it also stalls the advance of the flesh-eating bandage bags who are harrying them.

Hero characters also crop up, and if you manage to save them you'll get a special boost for a few seconds, letting your followers walk on water or making sure they follow the path you've cut for them in the sea.

There are 50 stages for you to work your way through, and passing them involves saving a set number of your followers. If you want the highest scores, you'll have to save all of them - a tough task on some of the later levels.

Open Sea! is a breath of fresh air - a puzzler with a unique and charming look all of its own. But it's not without its problems. Repetition raises its ugly head here and there, but the levels are quick enough that it's not too much of a bugbear.

Swiping and saving quickly becomes a compulsion, though, and you'll find yourself forgiving Open Sea! its little foibles. This is the sort of game that makes smartphone gaming so enjoyable - easy to pick up and spectacularly moreish.