Pavilion: Touch Edition review - An indie gaming masterclass in how to do things differently

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It's sort of like a God game, but you're only dealing with the attentions of a single devotee. And on top of that it's a stunning looking adventure, all cracks of lighting and beautiful architecture.

It feels at home on mobile too, with the pokes and prods you'll use to move the protagonist around coming naturally to anyone who's ever played on a touchscreen before.

There's a decidedly gothic feel to proceedings here. The main way you move the hero from A to B is by tapping on dangling bells. When these ring out he'll follow the sound.

You'll also see a woman in white running through the levels, and arcane symbols etched into the stone that you're progressing over.

The narrative here is left up to the player's imagination somewhat, and it's all the better for it. And the world built for you to play in is simply stunning.

The hero will stop to warm himself at burning torches, collapse with exhaustion as he sprints into new levels, and react with shock when you crack a bell to keep him moving.

You're pretty much left to your own devices to figure out what it is you need to do. There are plates to stand on to open doors, keys to find, and all manner of other intriguing challenges to uncover and complete.

And the whole thing moves along at a sharp and exciting pace. You want to push through to see what happens next, and to bask in the frankly incredible images the game throws at you.

It's tricky, and tricksy, in all the right ways, and there's scope here for discovering new routes and experiences on different play throughs.

Paving the way

It's been a week of brilliant indie games on the App Store, and they keep coming thick and fast. Pavilion sits up there with the best of them though, and shows how well games can be ported to touchscreen.

While it's iPhone only, it works just fine scaled up on an iPad. This is a game that you really need to experience - it's unique, exciting, and it'll make your eyes wish they never had to look at anything else ever again.