...™

A simple game, and part of the studios 48hr series, ...™ is the third unique installment from UK-based design studio ustwo™. If you're not familiar with the 48hr series of apps, basically these are applications the studio has made within the space of 48 hours. No more, no less. All in all there are 6 apps within this special app series, and more information on each can be found at the official 48hr app site.

Onto ...™ as a game though, and just as with the previous two installments, ...™ is a tilt-based game which uses the iPhone's built-in accelerometer, only this time, we see the series return to a its roots - a 2D layout. Monotone in its approach, the game is based around a simple concept of guiding the dot through a mirage of differently placed slots within moving panels. These panels are constantly moving upwards towards death... or the spiky ceiling thingamajig. As the dot successfully drops through the hole each patterned platform, the previous platform above then disappears. Just as with the previous titles in the series, the aim of the ...™ is simple, using your sense of skilled timing, you have to survive for as long as you possibly can... and surviving means avoiding that terrible spiky fate that lies above.

Graphically, this addition is just as "fresh" as .™ and ..™ - if not, fresher. I can definitely see that there's been a difference in approach with ...™. It's sort as if they said, we'll completely change the whole basic mechanic. You won't find the light blue dot with the dark red enemies, ...™ has been drained of all colour, leaving I have to say an immersive frenzied and challenging game which screams "retro-modern". The real challenge in the game comes with the realization that because these holes within each panel are obviously scattered in their location, you have to physically work out which way to tilt your iPhone, in order to make a clear path for the dot to fall through - and I have to admit, it caught me out on a number of occasions! While it's obviously not as 3D intensive as maybe ..™ was, ...™ brings something that I'm finding hard to put into words. I think what I'm trying to say in so many words is, the fact they reverted to 2D doesn't seem to take anything away from the game. In fact, this new design is definitely something I'm diggin'.

Managed to beat your previous score? As with .™ and ..™, ...™ allows for sharing of scores through Twitter, and with the studio having a sense of humor, the tweet you send out is, well, hilarious.

"My balls stopped dropping at 43 #dotdotdot http://link.ustwo.co.uk/dotdotdot"

As for gameplay, ...™ runs extremely smooth (as least that was my experience running the game on my 3GS). As with ..™ though, I really can't see where the studio will take the series next. Could we see a tilt-based side-scroller 'Rolando-esque' take for ....™? Overall a simple game, one which I personally found hard to pick fault with .. and put down for that matter. ...™'s gel of sheer challenge and a super well designed playing field had me hooked from the start. I'll be back when I drop my balls some more! See what I did there?