It's only fitting that a creature with the word "squirm" in its name would lead such a miserable existence. A gelatinous orange blob tasked with rescuing his sister trapped at the peak of a mysterious tree, poor Squirmee spends approximately every 10 seconds of his life dying again.
To complete his puzzling adventure, you must grant him safe passage through a series of on-rails hazards. While he sits atop a platform on a track, each stage comprises various color-coded objects that reconstitute themselves based on your input. Green objects move regardless of player control, gray can pause time by holding the screen, purple only move while the screen is held, red move in reverse if you drag your finger downward, and yellow move forward by doing the same.
Things starts out simple enough -- if Squirmee's on a gray platform heading toward green saw blades, you simply tap the brakes until the time is right to proceed -- but the difficulty ramps up quickly. Before you know it you'll have to guide him on a yellow platform, avoiding purple, red, and yellow projectiles. Keeping track of each obstacle's momentum is downright dizzying.
Squirmee's adventure is not only perplexing, but often requires pitch-perfect timing as well. This can lead to frustration when you have the right idea, but your timing is a mere millisecond off, leaving a scant pixel of a saw to shred poor Squirmee.
This is exasperated by bewildering controls. Having different moves grafted to holding the screen and swiping to change gears is functional, but confusing. An option to use digital buttons instead would have been appreciated.
Thankfully a Skip Level button can be used indefinitely so you needn't get held up too long unless you're stubborn. Strangely, the game's difficulty is out of whack with nearly impossible spikes interspersed with significantly easier levels.
Still, a strong sense of satisfaction comes with manipulating the environment so Squirmee can slip by unharmed. Its mind-bending multitasking won't be for everyone, but mental masochists will find this puzzling tree a peculiar pleasure.
The bottom line. Even though his life expectancy is shorter than a mayfly, Squirmee's exploits can be good, tense fun if you're in the right mindset.
of 5
iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad running iOS 4.0 or later.
Clever level design with cute presentation. Original mechanics. Skip Level button guarantees you won't get stuck. Universal app.
Very small margin for error. Controls can be confusing. Difficulty is inconsistent.
