My wife and I don't play games together very often. We had some fun with Wii Sports and still fire up Rock Band every so often, but she's not really interested in video games and we're both too competitive to ever risk Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit. Thus, I usually play games alone or with friends. I had to rope the missus in for the two-player Fingle, though, because if I played with anybody else she'd probably get jealous.
Fingle is about touch. You have to touch the screen to play it, but you also have to touch your partner's fingers, regularly and consistently. It's like Twister for fingers, and by the end your hand will intimately know the contours of your opponent's.
The goal is to drag on-screen boxes to a specific part of the screen. The boxes have to be held in that spot for a few seconds to move on to the next level. It's not as simple as holding still, though. You'll regularly have to slide your finger back and forth or in slow arcs to follow the path of your target, sometimes even spreading all of your fingers out and back in like a flower blooming and wilting in a steady pulse.
There's a little bit of strategy and communication involved, as you and your partner will have to figure out the best approach to each stage. It's not difficult, but you'll have to be clever to finish some of the busier stages. Really, though, as the cheeseball funk soundtrack and post-victory phrases like "Sweet Rubbin'" prove, it's just an excuse to gently rub your fingers against a loved one's.
The bottom line. Fingle isn't much of a game, but it's a fine little curio that promotes the most basic of intimate connections. And somehow, my wife and I only fought like three times while playing it.
iPad running iOS 4.3 or later
Thoroughly explores its concept, growing from simple challenges to complex maneuvers that require a bit of planning. Has a good sense of humor about itself.
Fingle's ability to break the ice might be limited by the awkwardness of asking that guy or girl you have eyes for to play a weird touching game called Fingle.
