It's difficult these days to stand out in the App Store, but Seattle studio Strapped to a Meteor (cool name!) has managed to do just that with its iPhone game DEO.
Even the first line of the game's description is intriguing - to me at least - "Enter the gloomy world of DEO".
The game's art style is also different. I wouldn't necessarily say 'appealing', but there is definitely something of the Tim Burton about it.
Take the red dot star of the game, for instance, with its sad eyes that appear to be continually leaking its redness like the watery blood of a shark attack victim into the sea.
Is that gloomy enough for you?
Tap to liveThe gameplay is very simple: all you have to do is tap the screen to make the eponymous dot jump, while tapping and holding makes DEO jump higher.
DEO is positioned on a twisted, deformed, slowly-rotating planetary level. You have to tap to get him to jump safely onto the next patch of grass before the bit he's presently on turns so far that he falls off.
Each level ends once you successfully get Mr Dot across the green bits and onto the red piece of ground, without landing on any of the black bits. If that happens, you explode.
Compulsion loopMaybe it doesn't sound like much, but there are some secondary elements that I really like.
One, as previously mentioned, is the menace of the leaking claret, which appears to be due to small crosses whizzing down from the sky like bullets. It's unsettling.
Another is that after completing a certain number of levels, you unlock a new segment of planet on the menu. And as you unlock more, you start to recreate the circle of the entire planet, slice by slice. There are two worlds and 96 levels in all, and this is a great way to gently encourage completion.
Finally, the number of times you die completing each segment is reflected in the number of plants that grow on that segment on the menu.
Of course, there are some rough edges, too: notably, the difficulty levels of some early levels, and the occasional issue with collision detection, leaving you wondering whether you're on a green piece of ground or a black one.
That can be frustrating, but on balance, DEO is well worth checking out.
DEO
DEO doesn't stand out in the App Store because of its gameplay, but the dark atmosphere will draw you in
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.