Flower Power Gecko

Geckos, it turns out, are good for one thing, and one thing only. That is, eating flowers with a big long tongue. That's also if this game is to be believed.

In reality, geckos are good at a whole lot more. Namely sticking to surfaces like glass using just one toe and – in the cases of certain species of gecko – changing colour to blend into backgrounds and reproducing without the need to copulate with a male (parthenogenesis).

Handy.

However, all these feats are pretty much ignored in Flower Power Gecko, because the most important thing here is that geckos can eat flowers with their big long tongues very quickly. This skill is used in various different modes within the game.

First up, there's the Normal game. In this mode, you move your cute green gecko left and right along the bottom of the screen as a series of differently coloured flowers fall from top to bottom. Pressing down makes gecko whip out his tongue and eat whatever it comes into contact with first. Pressing down again makes him destroy a flower using his tongue.

There is a point to all of this. Eating a series of like-coloured flowers in a row activates a 'flower power' mode, which in turn means that all subsequent flora treats you eat for a while boost your stamina and make gecko move faster.

Meanwhile, eating coloured flowers in the order they appear in a combo meter at the bottom of the screen gives you extra time in your meter. Since running out of time spells the end of your game for good, it's a good idea to keep it topped up.

Having both of these pressing objectives running constantly side-by-side gives the game a frantic, goal-juggling feel. Even if the actual game would otherwise be set at a remedial difficulty level. After all, how hard does moving a gecko left and right then chowing down on a series of flowers sounds? Not very, and that's because, on its own, it wouldn't be.

Extra items fall from the sky, too, giving you something more to concentrate on. Some are good and some bad. There are point-deducting items, time-stopping ones and invincibility for instance.

Still, even with all of this going on, Normal mode doesn't deliver an experience that ever really gets going. It's a fun little distraction, and that's about it. Add in a couple of other fun modes, though, and things start to get good.

There's a Puzzle option, which contains two different types of puzzle, and both are games in their own right. The first has you eating flowers from rows in a grid, which causes other flowers to drop in turn, in order to match up four or more like-coloured ones to make them disappear.

The second involves jigging flowers about a smaller grid in order to 'activate' three or more of every colour. That is, make sure three or more of every colour are touching at one another to end the puzzle.

Finally, there's Action mode. This is the fastest paced play option and looks similar to the Normal game, except you simply have to dodge bad falling items, such as brambles, and collect up flowers in order to earn points.

With all four of these modes, Flower Power Gecko packs a lot in. On their own, none of the four makes for a particularly impressive puzzle game. There are far more addictive alternatives already out there on mobile. But together they represent a far more enjoyable package.

It's not the next Tetris or Luxor, but Flower Power Gecko is a nifty little game. Its simple structure might not mean you stick with it for as long as a gecko can remain attached to a ceiling, but it does makes very well suited to younger gamers.