Rest in Pieces review - A swinging 3D runner

Rest in Pieces is a thoroughly odd take on the endless runner, and it's all the better for it.

From the groan-inducing name to the overwrought shlock-horror presentation, it's a game that revels in a deliciously distinctive supernatural hamminess.

But it's the game's simple yet ingenious core mechanic that really makes it stand apart from the crowd. Put simply, Rest in Pieces swings.

Hanging out

We're all used to dodging left and right past oncoming obstacles. We've been doing countless variations of that since the first Temple Run landed in 2011.

But Rest in Pieces applies a pleasingly tactile twist to this mechanic. Here your character - a creepy porcelain doll - literally swings left and right on a piece of string.

You can nudge said character further and faster in either direction, but good old gravity and inertia will play a part in thwarting (or aiding) your momentum. One hit from an obstacle will shatter you into a hundred pieces.

That's really all there is to the game: swing left, swing right, collect the odd trinket, reach the three checkpoints that will ultimately end the current nightmare. But the game's nifty control system is enough to keep you hitting that Play button.

The horror, the horror

The horror presentation is something of an acquired taste. Personally, I could take or leave it, but it's certainly not the kind of thing you see on the App Store too often.

From what I can gather, you're playing a range of character caught in a nightmare in which they've come to personify said strung-up doll. It's the kind of high concept, low art set-up that even an '80s horror B-movie might balk at.

But do you know what? It works. Everything looks moody and dramatic, and it allows for a range of delirious scenes, from a mad clown to a slithering kraken to a towering yeti.

There's a range of porcelain dolls to unlock too, so you can take control of everything from a chunky china elephant to a surfer dude.

Rest in Pieces certainly isn't your typical 3D runner by any stretch of the imagination, but it moves to its own peculiar rhythm.