NOON

Don't judge NOON based on your first go, which, admittedly, will last about three seconds. Five, tops.

Not that most people are short tempered enough to form an opinion about their latest download so abruptly, but there is something about NOON that doesn't lend itself well to first impressions.

A couple of minutes in, and that opinion will change, so if it's already on your iPhone, play on. For the rest of you, come this way.

NOON is an ultra-simplistic game that requires you to tap a clock with rapidly rotating hands (well, hand) as it passes the 12 o'clock mark.

Hit it at its zenith, and you score a point. Miss, and its game over. And that really is NOON in a nutshell, but austere gameplay aside, there's a surprising amount to enjoy here.

You're not just up against a single clock face, you see. Initially a second clock will appear, and if you make it past five or six points, a third.

Get to 12 points or more and you've got four clocks spinning simultaneously, with each one waiting for you to tap it with precision.

These clocks are spinning at different speeds, so you can't rely on building up any kind of rhythm. What you do have to watch out for is which will expire next, and make sure you take it out before the game is lost.

Being clocks, these temporal adversaries add a quarter segment with each full rotation of the hand, and should they fill up (after four turns) it's also game over.

So yes, this is a very tough, very fast game. A well-played round will still only take you 30 seconds from start to finish, but NOON caters for its brutally brisk gameplay admirably.

A new game is always running and ready to start within the menu, where the first clock spins continuously, ready for a well-timed tap.

The thought might have crossed your mind at this point, rather astutely, that fun though it may be there doesn't sound like enough here to fill a game. Even a smartphone one. And you'd be right, if it wasn't for NOON's excellent design and presentation.

As basic as they might be, the visuals are beautifully clean and smooth, with great blurring and particle effects that make it shine in the most wonderfully minimalist way.

The music is equally poignant and artistic in nature, lending an air of sophistication to NOON that such a primitive game wouldn't normally be able justify.

Which adds up to a title that's attractive enough to keep you playing until the addiction takes over, and you find you've lost hours to a game that you originally thought would only last minutes.