Paper Planes

The paper aeroplane is a simple invention but one with a multitude of uses. Like, er, writing obscenities on, then throwing across the office at a colleague. Just making one, too, in fact – it's one of those pointless skills yet one that, if you can do well, will always draw admiration from others. So what if being good at making paper aeroplanes hints that you must have misspent a lot of long hours practising? Others won't be mocking when your origami Spitfire smacks them in the face.

Making a game about paper aeroplanes sounds, on paper, like it might be taking it a bit far though. Whatever next? A game about catching jelly beans in your mouth perhaps? But what it actually turns out to be is completely addictive. And you don't even need to shred 20 pads of A4 paper to play it.

Proving that the best ideas are the simplest ones – something that is particularly true of mobile games, which are inherently more throwaway than their £40 home console cousins – Paper Planes' concept is more than straightforward. You make a paper plane and throw it, but in a manner that it fulfils the criteria the game has set you in that particular level. So it might need to travel 300 feet, or loop round, or hit a target, or travel 150 feet upwards. Or even do two of those things.

Making a paper plane do your bidding is something we can't say we've ever experimented with. We're just chuffed when ours actually resemble planes and fly further than about six feet. But it there are obviously ways and means of getting distance and the correct trajectory from your missile.

First, the game lets you decide on the weight of the paper you use to make it, from three different types. Then you choose its 'elevator angle' – the higher the angle, the more drag on your plane and the sharper it'll turn upwards. Finally you can choose the size of your plane. A small plane is more nimble but also more prone to elements such as wind and rain. A large plane will fly longer distances while going straight, although it's not so good for fancy loop-the-loops. The medium one is a bit of an all-rounder.

Then it's time to chuck your plane; the moment of truth and also of more choices. Because you not only set the angle at which to throw your plane but also the power. That's a fair few deciding factors, and all of these factors are what makes Paper Planes such an addictive little game.

At the centre of the experience is World Tour mode. Yes, you can actually travel the world making paper planes in this game. This essentially means you visit different parts of the globe, such as Europe, Africa, Australia and America, tackling new objectives with your planes. All the different continents really mean is the background of the levels changes – from green fields to deserts with kangaroos hopping about (can you guess which that one is yet?) – although it's welcome to have different distractions from watching a small white plane flapping in the wind. Different weather conditions crop up, too, subtly altering the type of plane you need to make.

As far as excitement goes, you won't find very high levels here. Paper Planes is a deliberately laid back game with visuals so simple even your avatar is like a crash test dummy. That's not to say it doesn't look good, though – its cel-shaded visuals are very distinctive – and a simple tune plays while you work at achieving the pinpoint perfect flight arc from your plane.

Of course, this simple goal-orientated gameplay does wear a little thin after a couple of hours' play yet there are enough modes in the game to keep things fresh. A Challenge option gives you randomly generated distances and goals to complete while the Free Flight alternative simply lets you fiddle with making planes.

The range of choices for making planes, although both comprehensive and simple to pick up, is limited and eventually the time comes when it starts to get a bit repetitive, though.

But Paper Planes is still one of those games you'll no doubt keep returning to for a quick bout every now and again. A bit like any slightly mindless activity (like Tiddlywinks or throwing bits of screwed up paper into a cup), this game easily whiles away the minutes. And it does so in a very charming fashion.