Daily iPhone App: Time Surfer adds time-shifting to Tiny Wings

Kumobius previously appeared on the App Store with the retro platformer Bean's Quest, but the company's latest, Time Surfer, is a very different project. It's a new take on the very popular Tiny Wings' endless jumping gameplay, with one very significant twist: You can rewind time as you move along.

That one mechanic turns the very casual into the extremely complex, as you can theoretically play and replay your jumps over and over again until you time them just right. The time reversal in Time Surfer is governed by the collection of gems, which fill up a meter of limited power, so you can't just rewind the game indefinitely. But there are quite a few gems to collect (especially if you make your run as perfect as possible), so Time Surfer provides a lot of options for re-dos. In fact, it's a perfectionist's nightmare, really -- if you're anything like me, you'll probably overuse the time rewind function, trying to make your jumps exactly right.

There's also a cake-based currency to earn (that fits right in with the game's strange neon '80s aesthetic), as well as Jetpack Joyride-like missions to complete as you play. And there's a pet system, with each pet providing a consumable boost to a certain part of your gameplay. Time Surfer is a weird one, but worth a try -- it's on the App Store right now for just US$0.99.