Spintastic

Spintastic, which quite literally puts a new spin on the process of a colour-matching puzzler, starts off as a plain Jane. This simple lady isn't satisfied with the basics, though. Like a pre-teen girl caking on the make-up, this straightforward puzzler unwisely layers elements in an attempt to become something more than it really is.

Your goal is to match balls in coloured groups of four in sprocket-like spinners that come with four holes ready and waiting to be filled. The balls themselves come flying down tubes that link the spinners up, sitting neatly in any open holes or bouncing back into play if the slot is full.

Filling up each hole entails rotating the spinners by tapping on them so that the open slots line-up with any approaching balls.

You can eject any ball by flicking your finger over it in the direction you'd like it to travel, the idea being to fill each spinner up. You begin by matching four balls of the same colour, then creating specific patterns outlined at the start of each stage.

After a few levels a time limit is introduced, followed by a restriction on the number of balls, and so the task gets gradually trickier. While initially you can take your time, almost approaching play on a ball by ball basis, when the clock becomes a factor multi-tasking with several balls on the screen is essential.

This means you're twisting spinners and flicking balls left, right, and centre in order to clear the board in time. Mentally, it's not a hard task, but it does put the controls under severe stress.

With moves being made by the second, all too often you'll confuse the two actions: tapping when you're meant to be flicking or, even worse, smudging your fingers over the wrong spinner entirely because of their close proximity.

The game often misreads taps or doesn't read them at all, leading to many moments of pure rage. It's all just a bit too delicate for the touchscreen. When the difference between success and failure can come down to one flick here or one turn there, having a control method that feels even the slightest bit fudged can make or break a title, as it does here.

You might also wonder whether any of this is any fun. Spintastic doesn't offer much motivation or decoration for your actions and, apart from racking up a high score, there isn't much to get you in a spin.

Slow pacing warns off any dizzying action, this awkward puzzler amped up only by the ticking of the clock. In the end, Spintastic relies on quick decisions and pure instinct, but the levels feel like they've been flooded with wet concrete.