Dr Bones: Pug Explorer is a cute iOS vertical platformer with a few too many wrinkles

According to my little sister, pugs are the cutest thing you can possess right now. It would appear that most people on the internet seem to concur.

So, I wouldn't be too surprised to see, for example, Indiana Jones fashioned into a pug. Wet nose and wrinkles included.

Yep, that's essentially what Dr Bones: Pug Explorer is. More accurately, it's a vertically scrolling platformer about a bipedal pug that invades tombs for treasures.

For some reason, the treasures are gold statues and ancient relics, and not dog chews and the thigh bones of cows. That aside, when you grab these treasures and shove them into your balloon-suspended sack, the temple will start to crumble.

This is where the endless action starts. Now, you see, you have to jump up the tiers of the collapsing tomb. On the way, you'll collect coins and more treasures, all the while dodging spikes and mummies.

Unfortunately, the controls let Dr Bones: Pug Explorer down quite a bit. The left and right arrow keys are too small on the screen, for example.

The 'A' and 'B' buttons (for jumping up and down tiers) are fine most of the time. Although I have questioned their responsiveness, too.

More pressingly, mind, why are they 'A' and 'B' instead of 'up' and 'down' arrows? Surely that would make more sense.

In the main menus, there are more odd choices to be found. Such as a 'BACK' button for exiting some screens, and an exit door in another. The controls are either inconsistent or too small, then.

Despite Dr Bones: Pug Explorer not having any IAPs, it always felt like it was about to offer me extra coins (to unlock levels and costumes) for my cash. I wouldn't be surprised to learn it originally had IAPs that were taken out before launch.

It's undoubtedly a cute game. But the deficient controls make it a hard recommendation. It should all be easily fixable, however, so hopefully Jamo Games can make some improvements.

You can purchase Dr Bones: Pug Explorer from the App Store right now for 69p / 99c.