I've never known a game improve so much within a week of launch as Death Hall.
It went from a promising but ultimately frustrating and fiddly experience to one of my favourite mobile platformers of recent times in the space of a 0.1 update. What on Earth happened here?
Well, it's all down to a simple shift in perspective.
I loved the premise of running the gauntlet through randomised levels, collecting hearts from fallen enemies. The dramatic escalation to fleeing a giant chompy monster that occurs half way through the opening level felt inspired
I even dug the scoring system, which finds novel ways of rewarding you for moving fast and punishing you for moving slowly. No arbitrary timers here.
The trouble was, Death Hall's unorthodox portrait perspective held me at arm's length.
But in a game where the action moves horizontally, it just felt cramped and restrictive.
One week on, and a major update now allows you to switch to landscape simply by flipping your iPhone on its side. It feels like Death Hall has taken off a particularly tight pair of trousers and can finally breath.
All of a sudden your fingers are a proper distance apart, your hands are comfortable, and you can see more of the spike-filled level ahead of you.
They're fairly simple to overcome when you're being careful, but like I said - there's usually a giant chompy beast lunging at you like a big angry orca.
You'll keep going back to Death Hall, though, for the lingering sense of secrets uncovered, and for its engrossingly fresh nightmare world. But most of all because it's really fun to play. At least in landscape.