Pig Curling

Angry Birds has made pigs popular - or at least as popular as thieving antagonists can be - but CEMG Apps's upcoming sports-strategy title Pig Curling hopes to turn hogs into heroes.

The title literally says it all: take the relatively obscure sport of curling and replace the polished granite stones with swine.

For those unfamiliar with curling (and there will be many), imagine an upturned dartboard chiselled into one end of an ice rink. Slide the stone / sow along the ice towards the circular target. The closer you get, the higher the points.

Each of the 40 rounds in Pig Curling requires you to hurl a minimum of three little pigs into the circles to complete it. Sliding is achieved by either moving and then lifting your finger, or by moving your finger to the designated line.

Pig Curling takes another page out of Angry Birds's book, this time in the strategy department. There are lots of swine available to choose from: fat, slow-moving ones and small, fast-sliding oinkers, for instance.

Environmental obstacles like wood, rubber, and even non-ice floors will test your strategic nous, too.

After some hands-on time with Pig Curling, we found the game to be tough but fair. The levels are short enough for quick play, but they definitely require thought and planning. Expect to hear the Game Over 'laughing pig' in your ear - a lot.

Pig Curling contains nice, albeit slightly creepy, piggy sound effects, though the visuals are about as basic as you can get. We are already hoping for a high-res update to an iPad 2 edition that matches the thoughtful gameplay.