Tattoo Tycoon

Welcome to the world of mobile gaming, where any act, any profession, skill or art, can be mastered by a simple tap of the '5' key.

Tattoo Tycoon, despite its heavily signposted title, could actually be about any deed in the history of humanity. From the mighty to the menial, sewing parcels of shredded wheat, presenting a live edition of Most Haunted on Living, or even perfecting a Cheryl Cole dance routine (Rufus Hound, anyone?) would all fit.

The key to success is in the delivery, rather than the actual content.

Though the idea of running a tattoo parlour is a little superfluous to play – the game essentially mixing time management based play with elements lifted from your average real-time strategy sim – that doesn't stop HandyGames from throwing in a portion of plot here and there to keep you motivated.

Your initial job is to rescue a previously mighty parlour from obscurity as it fights against the competition to make a name for itself. In this respect, play revolves around upping your reputation, flooding your parlour with fixtures and fittings that grab customer attention and raise their confidence.

Of course, you can only afford such trinkets by earning money from the tattoos themselves. Pulling these off is a question of timing, from choosing the design itself (hitting the '5' key when the style the customer is after flies across a bar at the bottom of the screen) to the act of actually applying it, though holding '5' when a gauge sweeps across light sections of a long bar has very little connection to the profession itself.

But, strangely, it works. In fact, it's a much more palatable alternative to the hands-on approach of Tattoo Mania on iPhone. While that release tried to hone in on the arty side of the coin, Tattoo Tycoon flips that to focus on the business front – increased funds enabling you to take on extra staff, research new designs and generally push the parlour forward.

And while anyone with an interest in the creative side of tattooing might therefore be disappointed that Tattoo Tycoon doesn't delve a little deeper into this particular artistry, it does make for a better game.

As stated, this could essentially be a title about absolutely anything – the most important element is that it's good. Which it is. And that's a craft that's a whole lot harder to master.