About Love, Hate and the other ones

Love and hate are at two ends of the emotional spectrum. In this quirky platform-puzzler from Black Pants Studio, however, Love and Hate are actually best mates who can't live without each other.

So, in the deliciously titled About Love, Hate and the other ones, these two opposite emotions are given physical forms, which happen to be limbless black blobs.

In each of the game's 60 levels, the two heroes must trigger a switch to escape to freedom - a process which isn't always as straightforward as it might initially seem.

You see, Love and Hate need to use their unique talents to manipulate the Other Ones - similarly proportioned beings whom you can use to create pathways and perform other tricks.

When Love beckons one of these Others, they move towards him. However, when Hate whispers his malevolent salutation, Others move in the opposite direction. Taking this into account, you can move Others around the screen and climb your way to victory.

To control Love and Hate, you simply tap where you'd like your currently selected character to go. As long as there's a clear path and they're able to climb (Love and Hate can jump one level upwards), then they will make their way to the destination of your finger tap.

You can toggle between Love and Hate by tapping the special icon in the bottom-left-hand corner of the screen, and there's an 'undo' command which allows you to recover from botched moves.

With its unusual visuals and atmospheric sound, About Love, Hate and the other ones certainly leaves a lasting impression. It helps that the levels are well designed and challenging. Plus, the ability to step backwards in time when you make a mistake avoids unnecessary frustration on your part.

The lack of a scoring system means that there's little incentive to return to the game once you've finished it, but this is a relatively minor complaint due to the fact actually besting the 60 stages will take a lot of time and effort.

The creator of About Love, Hate and the other ones has taken a very simple idea and spun it out into one of the more refreshing iOS puzzle titles we've seen of late.

Its off-beat appeal won't keep you captivated forever, but while it lasts the game provides an arresting and memorable experience.