Laser Hell

Laser Hell isn't what you'd call a deep game. In fact, it fits neatly into the odd, empty niche that was once filled by Flappy Bird.

It's not a clone exactly, but it uses a similar bouncy tap mechanic, and it's almost as infuriating as the game that made the world go bonkers for a while.

Still, Laser Hell looks nicer, it's got a decent soundtrack, and if you're after something a little brainless to pass the time it might be worth a look.

Just don't expect to find anything here other than a swift, merciless, repetitive experience that will fill up seconds rather than minutes of your life.

You play as a strange angel creature who's trapped in a chamber. At the top of the chamber there are some spikes. These kill you. At the bottom is some lava. This kills you as well.

On the walls of the chamber are connected pairs of lasers. These glow red for a moment, then blast out a stream of hot death. They kill you.

Your only chance of survival is to bob around, avoiding the top and bottom of the chamber and repositioning yourself when it's obvious that staying still will result in a laser blast to the face.

You control your altitude with taps. Push too long on the screen and you'll burst up to the spikes and die. Let go for too long and you'll drop into the lava.

Everything is presented with a cod-Gothic twang, and the pumping techno soundtrack adds an urgency to proceedings.

It's fair to say that Laser Hell is one of the better games inspired by Flappy Bird. It branches out, carving its own tortuous furrow and adding a gleeful darkness to your frustrated play.

But in the end, it's too hollow an experience to really recommend. There are high scores to chase, but after a few minutes you've basically seen everything the game has to offer.

And in that time you won't really have had that much fun. It's solid and well put together, but if you don't care about climbing leaderboards the sum of those parts just doesn't add up to a particularly entertaining whole.