First impressions of Chillingo's Sticky on iPhone

Though predicting the next million-seller is not an easy task, there's a fair chance that 59p casual game Sticky is going to do some serious business for Chillingo - the publisher, if you need to be reminded, that brought both Angry Birds and Cut the Rope to the App Store.

It comes with all the elements you might from an iPhone smash: a daft yet ultimately endearing setting, a rather cute lead character, and - most importantly - a simple set of controls.

Indeed, what stands out about Sticky - which tells the story of Professor B. Bunsen's search for a solution to the world's energy crisis - is how much in common the game has with Angry Birds.

The result of the Professor's experiments is a cake load of orange gunk that's liberally sprayed over Sticky's stages. The idea is to ping your own globule of fruity goo from one wall to the next in order to bounce it off an invading force of black sludge balls.

Said balls disintegrate on contact, making targeting – using a line that projects your goo's path – the central plank of Sticky's play.

What makes Sticky stand out as a potential hit, however, is the simple nature of its delivery.

The graphics, though not exactly pushing the hardware, deliver an undeniable warmth, and it's hard not to get involved whether you sympathise with the Professor's plight or not.

Likewise, flinging a ball of goo from one wall to the next is not a difficult concept to comprehend, but there's much fun to be had simply messing around in the gunk.

Throw in some power-ups – e.g., the ability to freeze your foe for short periods, tapping them with your finger to smash them open – and you've got the formula for a game that may well stick when it hits the UK App Store at midnight.