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Nothing but The Office repeats on mobile

A good licence does not a good game make

Nothing but The Office repeats on mobile

Whisper it, but some people are sceptical about the quality of mobile games. If you come here for the PSP and DS reviews, maybe that's even you. And we admit, you've got a point in too many cases – although we'd urge you to see the great mobile games highlighted in our mobile Buyer's Guide for the better side of the story.

Two of the most persistent complaints made against mobile are poor gameplay, and publishers slapping big licences over the top to try to hide it. And much as we hate to say it, but an upcoming tie-in game with the US version of The Office TV show looks like exactly that.

In fact, it apparently commits a third crime – re-releasing a six-month old game as if it was brand new, which is fast becoming our number one gripe here at Pocket Gamer.

You see, we're pretty sure The Office Games will prove to be a simple papering job of Indiagames' already-released Office Games, which we reviewed earlier this year and didn't much fancy at all. The games – Wasteketball, Paper-Football (Hateball), Table-Top Golf, Office Paper War, Chair-Racing – all sound rather, erm, identical.

Will it be the better for a picture of Michael Scott (the US version of David Brent) slapped over the front? Well, isn't the point of The Office that nothing is better for a photo of David Brent slapped over the top?

Still, we could be wrong – perhaps all the games have been re-written. Maybe they've taken our reviewer Mike Abolin's comments on-board? After all: "Indiagames has really stepped up to the plate on this one," said Jeremy Laws, senior vice president Universal Mobile Entertainment. "I think The Office Games is quintessential made-for-mobile entertainment."

Hmm, we'll see. Let's be careful out there, pocket gamers.