Flipt

Many games boast of their ability to turn your world upside down but with Flipt the hyperbole is justified.

In this puzzle-platformer the orientation of your device has an enormous impact on the in-game action.

The objective is to get your character from one end of the level to the other. Naturally, doing so is anything but straightforward. You're faced with all manner of obstacles, the most obvious being the environment itself.

You see, to successfully navigate the stages of Flipt you have to rotate your handset to alter the viewpoint. By doing so you notice areas which were previously corridors become solid columns and ceilings morph into passageways.

Should your exit route be blocked, the solution is simple - just flip your iPhone 180-degrees and the path to success suddenly becomes clear. If Escher had created a video game, we imagine this is what it would be like.

Moving your character takes a tap of the screen. If facing right, then tapping the right side of the screen causes them to sprint in that direction. A tap on the left-hand side of the screen yields a jump. If you happen to be facing left, the controls are reversed.

As the game progresses, the action becomes more complicated than just turning your phone upside-down. You have to contend with troublesome blocks that have to be moved with switches or detonated to clear a pathway, deadly electrified grids that spell certain doom, and ingenious gravity switches capable of altering the orientation.

The setting uses dimly-lit graffiti-covered environments and an excellent ambient soundtrack, which gives the impression you're trapped deep underground. It makes for a stylish experience, and one that complements the unique gameplay nicely.

The levels themselves boast elements of animation and display subtle visuals changes whenever you rotate your handset. Still, while the effect is unquestionably impressive it can get confusing in some of the busier stages.

Indeed, Flipt is definitely not a game for the casual player as the learning curve is painfully steep.

Although there are friendly tutorial hints that pop up whenever you encounter a new element of gameplay, for the most part you're left to your own devices and many levels require you to attempt them repeatedly before the solution becomes apparent.

The upshot of this sudden ramp in difficulty is that Flipt poses a serious challenge to dedicated gamers and will tax both your reflexes and cerebral matter simultaneously. On the negative side, the game can become disorientating due to the constant rotating of the playfield; aspects such as the gravity switches add further complexity.

Yet despite its sadistic challenge, there's no denying that Flipt offers an experience unique to the platform.

The ability to drastically transform your surroundings merely by rotating your iPhone or iPod touch is impressive and should change the landscape for platform-puzzlers in the future.