Nono Islands - An exciting, sometimes frustrating experience

Nono Islands had me worried to begin with. From the opening cinematic the scent of blatant Temple Run clone was wafting through the air like so much rotting meat.

But when it comes to it, it's just the treasure-stealing, Indiana Jones-riffing atmosphere that Nono Islands has absorbed. The game itself is a very different beast altogether.

In fact it's sort of the opposite of Temple Run. Running is usually a pretty bad idea here, and you definitely don't do it automatically.

Islands in the sand

The game is about navigating your way through a maze. Tap behind your explorer and you'll leap one space forward. When you reach a corner you need to swipe left or right to make your way around it.

Swiping backwards lets you take a step back. And that's about it. Except it's obviously not it, because that would make for a really boring game of walking about.

There are chunks of gold to collect, and if you grab all of them you'll unlock a chest at the end of the level. You'll need to nab pieces of a torn up map to see everything the game has to offer as well.

And the mazes you're travelling through are littered with hazards. There are monkeys who'll flatten you out, deadly spiders, collapsing blocks, bounce plates, and angry tribesman who are a bit miffed that you're stomping around their houses.

From this cocktail of troubles the game actually manages to make a pretty exciting, though sometimes frustrating experience. You'll swear a lot, but you might fist bump the air when you manage to get to the end of a particularly tough section.

Tap to fall

There's a slightly annoying checkpoint system, but if you spend some cash you can get rid of it entirely, which is welcome.

Nono Islands certainly exceeds expectations. It's surprisingly fresh, mixing light puzzling with quick arcade action to make an enjoyable, if sometimes annoying, addition to the App Store.