Planet Work

Planet Work is a kind of a rubbish Ghostbusters.

Not just because you wield a garbage collecting contraption resembling the proton beams used by New York City's finest supernatural extermination servicemen, but also because it's laughable.

Actually, Ghostbusters is funny and the lacklustre Planet Work is a laughable bore. The game's style is charming, but it lacks the difficulty and longevity to make it a really enjoyable experience.

Using a vacuum strapped to your back, you cross the galaxy sucking up dirt and debris to clean up planets. Along the way you encounter maniacal robots intent on undoing your work and large dinosaurs to be sucked into oblivion. It's a not-so-subtle allusion for what we're doing to our own planet.

Cleaning things up is a matter of dragging a finger to move your robot with a burst from its attached vacuum. The machine is constantly running, so it's your job to point it at whatever needs to be picked up. Once you've absorbed all the garbage from a section of the level, it sprouts with new life, indicating that you can move on.

The game is locked to a vertical setting, but it would benefit from a Landscape mode option. My fingers are pretty slim, but sliding them around the vertical landscape makes them feel pudgy. I also accidentally hit the 'reset' button several times due to its prominent placement in the corner of the screen.

The levels become slightly more complicated as you progress. For instance, one ice-covered world has you slipping across the surface. Later, conveyor belts throw things for a loop.

Still, the game has an extremely low level of difficulty. I didn't have to replay a single level until I hit the fifth world - including all the chubby-fingered setbacks I had along the way.

Leaderboards track how quickly you finish each level and you earn stars based on just how quickly you can clean up each area. More stars mean more unlockable art work, but overall the game's 20 levels go quickly.