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The best of free iPhone gaming: Magnetic Billiards is like Billiards meets Burnout

Ironically, opposites won't actually attract

The best of free iPhone gaming: Magnetic Billiards is like Billiards meets Burnout

There's just a whiff of surrealism about Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint.

Synthetic voices complement your cool shots and doorbells announce combo multipliers. Each game starts with sound of a horn being blown and everything is drawn in the style of blueprints.

But underneath some of those weirdly wonderful trappings, Magnetic Billiards is an addictively straightforward affair. Just forget everything you've ever been taught about billiards and you'll soon understand.

Tap and hold your finger over any billiard ball, then pull back in any direction to select a trajectory. Velocity depends on how far you pull back.

There are no pockets, but balls of the same colour magnetise onto each other, and if you manage to magnetise every ball of the same colour they'll disappear from play. Eliminate every colour and it's job done.

Easy enough, right?

Wrong.

Take your time

This isn't a race to the finish - although velocity will help. You need to score points to progress, and the only way to a big score is a big combo. If you hit a ball of another colour, your multiplier is wiped. If you fail to hit anything, you lose a life.

If you want to do well, you'll need to construct elaborate, evasive trajectories, bouncing off walls and whizzing past other colours. And then do it again. And again. For extra points, connect the balls so that they form interesting shapes, like diamonds or strings. Mess up just once and your combo is lost.

It's a bit like Burnout - narrowly avoid objects at high speed for skill prizes, but actually collide and you'll lose out. It's fast-paced yet steady and cautious. Challenging, good old fun, basically.

Each level offers a different challenge, with a new colour or different placements. You can't find one winning tactic - you'll need to mix it up as you go.

In-app purchases will be available soon, but as it stands, you definitely can't go wrong with Magnetic Billiards.

Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint is currently available on the App Store for free.

Ryan McGowan
Ryan McGowan
Currently studying for a university degree, Ryan used to spend an unhealthy amount of his time indoors, playing on his consoles. Thankfully, he's turned his life around and now spends an unhealthy amount of time outdoors, playing on his handheld consoles. Well, it's the thought that counts