Skipping stone is finally bouncing this way!

There are few experiences guaranteed to stimulate more unadulterated childish glee than skimming stones. There’s an almost primal appeal about selecting a flat piece of rock, leaning back and then whipping the arm through with a quick flick of the wrist to propel your stone as far as possible out across the waters. Ahh, just writing about it brings back memories of those fantastical 16-skippers and makes us want to head out to the coast in search of flint. Except pretty soon we won’t have to, as i-Play are bringing all the excitement of skipping stones to our mobile phones!

However don’t expect too literal a recreation of the Margate coastline as this is skipping stones Far-Eastern style. Developed in Korea, where it’s already become a smash hit, the game puts you in control of a small boy and charges you with hurling a stone out to sea using a simple power gauge. So far, so familiar then. Where Skipping Stone deviates from the usual course of events though is that once you’ve launched your missile you then get the chance to take control of your stone and help keep it skipping a little further. Alright then, quite a LOT further. When we tested the game back at E3 in May, we managed to keep the fella bouncing for several km!

By pressing the button at exactly the right time (as the stone hits the water) you’ll maintain the height of the stones bounce. Hit too early or late and you’ll lose power, hit it spot on several times and you’ll get extra points and some crazy power-ups such as a whale which blasts you higher on a water spurt. Add in some suitably sweet graphics, changing scenery which effects the pace of the game, random obstacles like tornados and different game modes and you’ll begin to see why this is one of the most eagerly awaited mobile titles yet.