Hands on with Labyrinth 2 for iPhone

Illusion Labs has just released Labyrinth 2 in App Store [iTunes Link]. Beautifully designed and fun to play, Labyrinth 2 transforms your iPhone into a classic wooden labyrinth/metal ball game, but it's a lot more than that. Labyrinth 2 isn't just about manual coordination and keeping the ball from treacherous holes, it offers clever tricks and twists including gates with button-based controls that limit access to certain parts of a given maze, magnets, limited-access twirling discs, bb shooters that displace your ball, and more.

I am not normally a big fan of coordination-based games. I personally have the coordination of a dyspeptic llama doing heavy pharmaceuticals. I love that Labyrinth 2 offered many levels without the "avoid the hole" dynamics that I could play and enjoy.

The visual and sound design for this game are superb. I loved the care that went into it, from the diagonal main menus to the clicky feedback sounds to the ability to download additional levels after buying the game.

That's not saying that the GUI was perfect. I do wish that the clicky interaction was universal throughout. UI sounds for the back button and tab bars were notable in their absence. Also the tab bar buttons ("Official","Downloaded", "Faves") were way too tiny in height for practical use. Also, I have no clue what the little Pac-Mac ghost button at the top-right of the screen was for.

Those quibbles aside, the game design is really tight. The simulated physics were fabulous, the game twists (like magnets, rotating wheels, and so forth) welcome, and the entire app (retailing for $4.99) a very good value for the money.

Even with my limited motion control abilities, I found Labyrinth 2 to be an enjoyable game to explore -- and my kids gave it thumbs up across the board.

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