iPhone Pick: Addictive Dumb Distractions

The WarioWare series saw the birth of a genre that never grew. It invented the micro-game, where players tackle a gauntlet of bite-sized trials, performing a simple activity for a few seconds before being flung into the next one. Perhaps the reason why the genre hasn't really taken off is because Nintendo has it sown up - WarioWare has graced all modern (Nintendo) systems very shortly after release and all make great use of their unusual control schemes.

Of course, Nintendo doesn't develop for the iPhone. Followers of the platform might have actually heard of A.D.D. - an acronym for Addictive Dumb Distractions - as it has has been rejected by Apple numerous times for being too offensive for purchase. The final version gives us an idea why - it swaps the inane Japanese style of WarioWare for crude and mildly offensive humour. Expect to pop spots, fight with a tramp, go deer hunting and shake salt across garden slugs. It's even happy to poke fun at its inspiration, allowing you to pick a rather snotty nose with two fat fingers.

There are subtle differences with gameplay, however. For one, there is no narrative or set of characters to follow, but instead a range of TV channels that has a theme that the micro-games loosely stick to. Every ten stages gives you a bonus round instead of a boss, providing additional lives and other benefits. The games use a variety of control schemes, from swipes and pokes of the touch screen to tilting the device, which on the whole function superbly. However, there are occasions where movements don't match or register at all, or micro-games that fail for seemingly no reason.

And much like WarioWare, many first attempts at micro-games result in failure, mainly due to how that they aren't obvious to solve. There is no way to individually attempt a game, and overall the game is short lived and lacking in features. You can see everything in an hour, but finishing every channel will unlock the Hardcore mode, which gives you a single life to contend with. There is also the online leaderboards, which add a new lease of life to the score-based title, especially as it is satisfyingly easy to climb up the ranks in these early stages of release.

It's awfully crude but very amusing in places, and while it's not as polished or as inventive as WarioWare, it's a great attempt at trying to pull the genre away from Nintendo's firm grasp. We cross our fingers for more micro-games and game modes to be made available in the near future and look forward to seeing what lines A.D.D can cross next.

A.D.D is available on the App Store for £1.79. What do you think of the game? Add a comment to the space below!