Flick Champions Winter Sports

Who doesn't love the pageantry of the winter Olympics?

When I close my eyes, I can see the beaming faces of athletes lined up in the cold night air with tears of pride welling in their eyes as their respective flags snap in the breeze above their heads.

When the games commence, these athletes will compete for the gold medals in august sports like skiing, ice dancing, the bobsled, and the snowball fight.

You've got to give Chillingo credit with Flick Champions Winter Sports: the winter games would be far more enjoyable if there actually were a snowball fight event.

Flick Champions Winter Sports follows the lead of Flick Champions World Edition and allows you to compete in six winter-themed events: Slalom, Ski Jumping, Curling, Snowball Fights, Speed Skating, and Ice Hockey.

All of these events are controlled by simple flicks and swipes, which makes Winter Sports perfectly suited to casual, one-handed play on the train.

Unfortunately, many of these events are so buggy they barely qualify as mini-games and would be better described as mini-endurance challenges.

For example: Ice Hockey doesn't allow you to move and manoeuvre your players about the ice, and the only resemblance it bears to actual hockey is almost purely coincidental.

Passing and shooting is next to impossible if your players wind up next to defensive players. My goalie wound up scoring most of my goals by firing blindly across the ice.

While hockey is frustrating, Skating is just plain taxing.

To control your athlete, you have to tap and hold, while a quick flick is required for cornering. This doesn't sound like a difficult task, but when you have to negotiate it twice a lap for 30 laps it becomes a true test of one's patience, as the controls are as slippery as the ice itself.

Snowball Fight and Curling are two stand-out events that really feel enjoyable when played on their own - especially as Snowball Fight follows simple dodgeball rules and there's really no more point to the game than bapping your opponent's team ten times before they can score ten hits on you.

Ultimately, Flick Champions Winter Sports isn't a medal-worthy affair. If you have the 99c / 69p for the game lying around, it's worth checking out for the Snowball Fight and Curling games, but you'll be sorely disappointed if you're looking for a true Olympic sports sim.