the spark...

Canabalt

I’m not a huge video game fan. In fact they probably stopped calling them video games in the 90’s for all I know. However, I enjoy the design that surrounds some games. Not just the-pixel-perfect attention that goes into making the game itself but the packaging, the poster, the TV ad, the face tattoos.

This does mean that I will occasionally buy a game because I have become infatuated with the design. I fool myself into thinking I’ll enjoy playing it. Often that turns out not to be the case, generally through no fault of the video lovely itself. I just won’t want to devote the time necessary to sink into all that the coders have to offer.

It’s quite odd then that I find myself very much enjoying a new little offering for the iPod Touch called Canabalt. It’s an incredibly simple premise – you’re a little guy running along a platform escaping some unknown enemy. You simply have to jump by clicking and make it as far as you can. So far so average and yet there’s something about it that is devilishly addictive. In fact it’s taken me hours to write this post as I keep having to stop and have one more go on the blighter.

You can play it for free yourself at www.canabalt.com. I’d advise you not to though as you won’t ever get anything else done.