Arctic Shuffle

Developer: zinc Roe
Category: Games
Version: 1.1
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Size: 8.5 MB
Price: $1.99
Rating: 8/10

Curling is a very strange sport. Not the uber-violent Irish stick/ball sport, although that's pretty weird, I'm talking about the Olympic (!) sport that entails sliding smooth blocks of granite down an icy path while two of your friends scrub the ice furiously. It's a Canadian thing, and so is zinc Roe's Arctic Shuffle, the game in which you curl with penguins.

You get five penguins to slide across obstacle filled ice towards a target. As the you progress through the levels the game gets more and more difficult, there are aliens, holes in the ice, ice walls and rubber bumpers that you can use or that kill your little penguins. By completing levels quickly or using fewer of your penguins you score higher and higher points for each level.

Although the pretense is very simple, the game-play is diverse, there are 50 levels in the game with another 25 available for in-app purchase. The score is kept per level, so coming back to a level and beating your previous score is a way that the game stays fresh. The sliding action is really smooth and sensitive. The graphics are simple but very cute. Although the game comes across initially as a kids game, it's pretty hard at the higher levels and entertaining for adults. The music gets a little annoying- play enough with the sound on and it'll be ringing in your head all day.

This game grew on me, I've kept it on my phone now for over a week, which says a lot in the world of disposable iPhone apps, especially games. If you are looking for a cute game to entertain for more than an hour or two, Arctic Shuffle will take good care of you.