Theseus

My knowledge of Greek mythology might not be what it once was, but I'm pretty sure Theseus did actually slay that pesky Minotaur. It must have been a battle to rival that of David and Goliath. Stories involving the underdog trumping the favourite are ten a penny, proving that you don't always have to run away from the big bully threatening you in the school corridors - you can take them on and win.

Instead of pitting you against a mythological monster, Theseus has you avoiding conflict at all costs. This iPhone puzzler is less about speed and more about tactics. Like every underdog tale, cleverness allows this simple yet sophisticated puzzle game to emerge as a winner.

The goal in Theseus is to reach the exit while evading capture. Our fiendish friend the Minotaur is actually quicker on his feet than poor old Theseus, which means you have to move carefully through the top-down mazes. For every square Theseus moves, the Minotaur takes two, so that trying to out-run the beast on the flat will only result in bloody death. Success revolves around playing on the Minotaur's weaknesses, of which he has two. The first is a tendency to move horizontally, and the second is an inability to move around walls.

The game works using a turn-based format, with our hero acting as a homing beacon, pulling in the Minotaur with every move. He will literally follow you around the map from beginning to end, so halting his hostile advance means using his horizontal bias against him. Unless the horizontal squares are blocked off by a wall or moving vertically gets him closer to you, the Minotaur will always try and move left or right rather than up or down. In this way, it's possible to predict exactly what move he will make at all times.

Using this information, you can position yourself so that the Minotaur gets trapped, which plays on his second weakness. Well, in truth, it's more that the Minotaur tends to think a little too laterally - unless taking a step back from a wall or walled off corner gets him closer to you in one straight move, he won't do it.

In very simple terms, this turns Theseus into a crafty game of cat and mouse. Most mazes are designed in a way that encourages you to put Theseus in temporary danger in order to lure the Minotaur into a trap before whisking away to the exit. So brilliant and taxing is the design of the maps (of which there are currently 87) that the game really tests your take on logic. Often, what appears to be an obvious route to the exit is foiled early on, meaning your whole approach to play adjusts map after map. It's like learning a new language.

Thankfully, it's one that's fairly easy to digest. Should you make a mistake, undoing an bad move is just as simple as hitting the back button. Every move that Theseus and the Minotaur make is stored, meaning you can tap your way back through every single move and pick-up play again at any point, without penalty.

Like a crossword or sudoku puzzle, Theseus is a personal challenge designed to be mused and muddled over rather than completed quickly. With a set of superb levels and the kind of gameplay that can entice you for either hourly marathons or quick-minute fixes, Theseus is easily one of the best puzzlers available on the iPhone, and that's no myth.