Demolition Master

It's said that people only build sandcastles so they can smash them down.

Of course, anyone taking a trip to the beach either lets the waves gently destroy their sand creation or kicks it into oblivion. You won't find many packing a crate of explosives amongst sand buckets and spades as they set off to the seaside.

That's solely the domain of Demolition Master, which charges you with bringing down buildings with explosive ordinance. It's all about experimenting with physics and, most crucially, blowing stuff up with gusto.

Your job is to choose spots for planting explosives so as to destroy buildings composed of beams and floors. The aim is to flatten the edifice so that it all falls below a target height that changes from level to level.

This means pinpointing structural weaknesses and attacking them with dynamite. Planting a stick takes nothing more than a tap of the screen, although each beam can only take one explosive. As such, just where along its length you choose to set it can be crucial when it comes to detonation.

Once they're all in place, the fireworks go off. If all the planks end up below the target line, it's onto the next - but if your choices prove to have been misguided, it's not the end of the world.

Far from it. Half the fun in Demolition Master comes from experimentation. Stages completed in one easy move feel unsatisfying – the actual thrill either comes from the near misses or the so-hopeless-you-have-to-laugh attempts that characterise your first attempt on most stages.

Rare are the times that failure becomes frustrating. The game's only point of controversy is the strict target line that gives little leeway. While there's nothing wrong with setting clear goals, sometimes the resulting pile is a matter of inches over said line, dropping in and out of contention as the pieces continue to move post explosion. Repeated close calls such as these can begin to grate.

On the other hand, many of the later levels are deliberately complex. Beams that can't be touched and specific areas that have to be kept clear of the aftermath add to the game's challenge.

With 100 levels plus spread over seven different countries – at least aesthetically speaking – there's much here to play around with, even if the linear arrangement deserves to be loosened up.

Even though its functional look doesn't do its gameplay justice, Demolition Master offers the sort of fun experimental puzzle play that can win over any physics sceptic.