Exit Strategy

Exit Strategy is sort of like a Portal demake, with auto-running top-down 2D replacing the first-person perspective of Valve's original.

There's less humour and heart here, but underneath the slightly sketchy graphics you'll find a fast-paced puzzler with a lot going for it.

You'll also find a metric tonne of adverts. So many adverts that you sometimes wonder whether it's a joke or not. Seriously, there are a lot of adverts here.

The aim of the game is pretty simple. Get a trundling robot from A to B, collecting all the stars in a level in the process.

Your robot moves forwards automatically, and will smash into any walls it hits, ending your run. You need to place portals around the level so the plucky automata can avoid crashes.

You can only have two portals open at once though, so opening a new one will close one of the old ones.

Swipes place the portals, one blue, one orange. To begin with things are pretty simple. You'll only need to worry about getting round a corner or avoiding one of the red blocks that ends your run.

After a while things get far more hectic, and you'll be swiping frantically, chaining together a series of portals, avoiding lasers, and trying to keep your robot on-screen.

Exit Strategy isn't the most polished game on the App Store, but at its heart there's a solid and entertaining arcade puzzler.

It's a little sketchy in places, but never where it matters. Failure is always your fault, and successes are all the sweeter because of that.

This is a neat, engaging twist on the Portal formula, and while it does run out of steam a little bit, there's plenty here to enjoy.