Reiner Knizia's Deck Buster

Reiner Knizia has for some time now been producing some of the best and most innovative board and card games for mobile devices and continues that trend here. I wanted to be the only person to hate his games, I wanted to stand out and be different. I tried and I failed. Like so many of his games before, this one is just so much fun and addictive: damn, I hate myself.

The layout, like the whole game, is simple; with a deck of cards in the top left hand corner, the first card face up. Options and High Scores sitting below this. On the right, and taking up most of the screen, is the play area. Place cards one at a time on a 3 x 5 board, score according to the poker style combinations and aim to get a high score. It really is that simple, and yet frighteningly addictive. I'm truly scared of this game now; it's haunting me, taunting me to play it just one more time, score just slightly higher than last time. I'm now scared to switch the iPad on, in case this game is there, staring at me.

Deck Buster wants me to play it, almost demands it with it's ease of play and pure addictiveness. It uses pleasing graphics and stylish visuals, and even plays harmonious piano melodies to keep me playing. And to entice me back again and again, it offers two modes of play, the differences are subtle; less cards and harder combinations, but again, they are there to tempt me back each time.

And don't make my mistake and let someone else have a go, just in case they beat your previously hard fought for high score, because then hours, maybe even days will be lost trying to beat their score.