Magnetic Billiards review

Four years is an uncommonly lengthy development for an iOS game. Fittingly, Magnetic Billiards, the App Store debut from the Pickford Brothers, developer of SNES platformer Plok and PC turn-based strategy Naked War, prizes slow, methodical play. The object is to clear a series of tables by firing like-coloured balls into each other to form clusters, but shot efficiency is frowned upon: the fewer turns you take, the lower your score and associated rank is likely to be. It's an approach that requires a little mental rewiring, but the effort is worth it.

The game has you tease out the complexities of its arcane scoring system through both experimentation and study of a thorough (yet refreshingly optional) tutorial. It mixes elements of match-three puzzlers - Zuma is an obvious touchstone - with more unusual influences: shooting close to other balls generates score-boosting "buzz", akin to Radiant Silvergun's bullet-scraping. You can boost your tariff, which helps determine the score of your next shot, by bouncing the ball off as many cushions as possible before hitting your target, while clusters that form certain shapes add further bonuses.

Magnetic Billards' off-kilter premise and initially cryptic mechanics are relieved by its smart visual design. Indeed, much of the game's appeal comes from its delightful homespun presentation: each table is played on a crumpled blueprint, while combos are represented by ragged strips of colour, like torn crêpe paper. A lopsided piano theme and occasional gruff vocal interjections conjure an air of an after-hours session at a northern English pub, a likely location for the game's conception.

Three variations lie away from the 40 standard tables. Sardines is the most successful, flipping the central conceit by introducing four extra balls after each shot. These are unlocked with the purchase of a skeleton key, which also offers early access to prototype modes promised in future updates. Generous, polished and charmingly eccentric, Magnetic Billiards proves the benefits of deliberation - though if this is indicative of the quality the Pickfords can bring to iOS, here's hoping their next isn't quite so long in the making. [8]