Super Pixelander

Super Pixelander is a slight, quickfire, dodge-and-shoot game that marries kleptomaniac survival arcade-fest Super Crate Box with the twitchy frantic bounciness of Toast Time.

It even chucks in a hint of old arcade game Lunar Lander for good measure.

The game starts calmly, with a single screen helpfully providing you with instructions. You tilt your device to turn, touch the screen to fly, and collect gems.

Naturally, this state of tranquility lasts approximately five seconds. Space isn't about to let go of its shiny precious rocks without a fight.

When you collect a gem, your odd little craft is somehow magically equipped with a new piece of weaponry. For the most part your bullets and lasers are pooped out of your spaceship's rear end.

You're bombarded by bullets and comets. Beams appear from nowhere, ready to slice you in two, and asteroids lazily meander about, unhelpfully breaking apart when shot.

Perseverance reaps rewards. Collect enough gems and you acquire new weapons, which make your task fractionally easier.

These are swapped out randomly when you grab a gem, and there aren't any duds. Although you do have to learn how each weapon works.

One provides 360-degree protection, another blasts only from the sides of your craft, and most shoot straight down.

At some point the game runs out of new weapons and, presumably much to the chagrin of the under-fire hero, starts bestowing headwear instead.

Survive to collect around a dozen gems and lava rises from the bottom of the screen, adding another complication to proceedings, and shutting off that escape route.

It also spits fireballs at you for good measure. From then on, Super Pixelander just gets more chaotic until your inevitable demise.

That lack of depth doesn't matter though. Super Pixelander is a modern take on the sort of ancient arcade game that aims to humiliate and destroy the player.

But it's good enough that after every death you'll dust yourself off and return with a steely determination to show the game who's boss.

Of course, you won't beat it. You'll get killed after collecting a handful of gems.

But spend some time mastering the game's physics, learning to bounce off of the edges of the screen, and noticing the warning signs before each new wave of doom appears, and you might just have a chance of inching your score into the dozens.